


The Four Daughters

by KC_R



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), Baby protec, Beeble has died, Beeble will die, Cannibalistic Thoughts, Charlie :(., Charlie is here, Drug Addiction, Edel is not doing okay, F/F, F/M, Flower Language, Herrah is suspicious of the babies, Hi Unn how are you, If you ship Edel and Charlie you die, I’m gonna be honest no one is doing good right now, Lost Kin is baby in this one, M/M, Ogrim is dad, Oro/Quirrel is implied, PK gets to dad x4, Protea is gay, Self-Cannibalism, Sigma and Edel are best friends, Sigma be hunting, Suicide Ideation in chapter 12, The Hornet’s are so so baby, There will be happy moments, There will be sad moments, Three Hornets AU, and they aren't actually dating; at most its friends with benifits, baby attac, bed time, bedtime stories to sooth the babies, but 4 Hornets, but most importantly baby squeeze through crack, but we love them, bye bye Xero, cry, father-daughters bonding, once again I must thank Skye for the names of God Tamer and Pale Lurker, the Hornet’s are baby, there will be cute moments, there will be devastating moments, they are fiends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 28,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29381040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KC_R/pseuds/KC_R
Summary: A visit to the Nosk’s den proves to have disastrous consequences when four children return home. One of them is a Nosk, this much is known. The only question is who they are, and how long they will stay hidden.
Relationships: Broken Vessel | Lost Kin & Hornet, God Tamer/Pale Lurker (Hollow Knight), Herrah the Beast & Hornet & Hornet & Hornet & Hornet, Herrah the Beast/The Pale King (Hollow Knight), Hornet & Hornet & Hornet & Hornet, Isma/Ogrim | Dung Defender, Nailmaster Oro/Quirrel (Hollow Knight), The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & Hornet, The Hollow Knight| Pure Vessel & Hornet & Hornet & Hornet & Hornet, The Pale King/White Lady (Hollow Knight), Traitor Lord's Daughter/Ze'mer | Grey Mourner
Comments: 198
Kudos: 132





	1. The Four Daughters

**Author's Note:**

> Chip made the AU, Murderbirb gave me the idea of a Nosk infiltrating the baby brigade, and I took it from there. Enjoy.

The moment the King of Hallownest received the message from a Weaver messenger, he had cancelled all of his meetings for that day, hopped on the tram, and headed directly to Deepnest.

Something had happened to his daughters, all three of time had gone missing, and now they were back, but something was wrong with them. No other information was given to him, which only made him more anxious.

As soon as he escaped everyone’s view, he unfolded his wings and flew through the tunnels as fast as he could, quickly arriving at the distant village that the Weavers inhabited. Some peeked out of their homes, others drew their weapons, some retreated inside, but none of them mattered to him right now. He landed atop the highest platform, the only building in this entire village that he had ever been in. 

He barely managed to shove his wings under his cloak when he burst into the home. Two Devouts stood on either side of the room, and Herrah stood at the center, facing away from him. 

“Herrah, I came as soon as I could.” He said, gasping for the breath he had lost on his quick journey. “What happened? Are they alright?” He asked.

“The three of them snuck out, someone must’ve told them about the Nosk den, because we found them on their way back from there.” Herrah explained, turning to look towards the Wyrm.

“Where are they? Did they return safely?” He asked, frantic and anxious.

“Yes, we retrieved all of them, but the problem is not that they got themselves hurt or something like that, no the problem is that we retrieved four of them.” She explains, beckoning him to follow her as she pulled the cloth blocking the nursery to the side, exposing the four children, their cloaks dirtied and stained to the point that the colors had all become a dark gray.

“I need you to take them to your lab. One of them is not my daughter, and I need to know which one it is. I need to make sure that the thing they brought back is taken care of.” Herrah explained. The King watched over the group of children as they ran around the room, chirping and clicking their mandibles. 

“So a Nosk has infiltrated them?” He asks.

“No, a dirtcarver has. Of course it’s a Nosk! What else would they have brought back from the Nosk den?” Herrah hissed.

He watched them for a moment longer, trying to pick out any odd movements. None could be found, each of the children acted like, well, children.

“I’m not sure how much I can do besides examining their shells for inconsistencies. Their behaviors are still developing and they haven’t learned much yet. There is little to nothing I can do.” He explains. 

“I don’t care how little there is to do. Find. The. Nosk. Then bring the Nosk to me, and I will end it. You don’t even have to get your hands dirty, but I need this beast dead.” Herrah explained. 

“I don’t quite get your problem. If the children adopted the Nosk as their sister, then what’s the issue with letting it stay?” He asked, instantly realizing that that was the wrong thing you say.

“Because that thing that is pretending to be my daughter is one of the most deadly beasts in this entire kingdom! We have been at war with them for millennia! We are this close to finally getting rid of them, we’ve emptied their nest of eggs, and now we’ve collapsed the tunnel leading there. This Nosk is the last of its kind, and it is violent. Unless you want to lose all of your daughters, I suggest you weed the monster out as soon as possible.” Herrah growled, taking one last suspicious glance towards the playing children.

“Do not even ask about trade deals or the vessel plan until you have succeeded. Take them and hurry, it is only a matter of time before the beast matures and becomes violent.”

She leaves the room, leaving the King alone with the four children. They play, share toys, chirp at each other, act exactly like how they always do. One of them is chasing another with a wooden nail, and another is trying to stack building blocks while the last watches intently, face so close that their breath might knock it down.

“Children!” He says as he gets down on his knees. All of the children turn their attention to him, and soon he’s surrounded. “How about we go on a trip back to the palace? And then you can all play with all of the fun toys you have there.” He says, smiling as wide as he can, and making his voice as friendly as possible. The one with the nail shakes their head, but the one they were chasing is excited to go. Another nods and the last seems indifferent to the idea, still enraptured by the building block tower. 

The one with the nail throws it at the tower, collapsing it into a pile. His child who was staring at it is now bawling their eyes out, desperately trying to restack them. He quickly rushes to the child’s side, using his extra limbs to restack the cubes.

“It’s okay, my child. There will be plenty of blocks and towers at the palace.” He cooes, as he picks them up. He collects all four of them in his arms and they immediately begin to settle.

They all looked the same, acted the same, played the same. A headache was already forming, but this was good. It at least gave him a chance to be closer to his children, and gave him something to keep his mind off of the approaching problem of the Infection. He couldn’t see any of these hatchlings as a monster, they were children, HIS children. He could only hope that Herrah was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to ask that no one makes predictions, at least until it is revealed. If you do, I will have to delete your comment, very sorry


	2. Bedtime Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The four sisters have grown slightly, but they are still children.

If there were any signs that any of his four daughters was a Nosk, they didn’t show themselves. None of them were overly violent, none of them acted strangely, had strange diets, acted in any way different from a normal child.

Since the incident, and despite Herrah’s demands, the children had been named. One by him, one by his Root, one by Herrah and the citizens of Deepnest, and one by his Great Knights (the group of five, and Ze’mer’s girlfriend, had spent many nights brainstorming names). 

His silent daughter, whose cloak was black as the void that made up the Hollow Knight, her name was Lance. The people of Deepnest had named her, and she spent most of her time in the gardens, or with the Hollow Knight. The runner-up name in the poll was Ricky Ticky Tiktik, and he was very glad that Lance won. She collected flowers, she sometimes forgot to move for hours, sometimes retainers confused her with a statue, only to be jumped when she decided she had enough of mimicking the Hollow Knight’s stature. It was definitely worrying, and it was a habit he needed to break as soon as possible. She was also the hungriest, and when she was moving, she was likely moving in and out of the kitchen, snatching snacks and scraps to take back to their nest and feast on.

Sigma was his loudest daughter. Perhaps second loudest, it was hard to tell sometimes. He had named her, and her mother had forced her to keep the name despite the fact that no one liked it. Herrah never passed up a chance to show how much she hated him, even when it hurt other people. Thankfully, she showed no hatred toward the name, but did show distrust towards him, likely thanks to her mother. She wore a brilliant red cloak, and was the first to begin using her silk to create traps for the retainers. She was a fiend, she stole and she pillaged every room she entered for snacks and toys. She loved hunting, and spent most of her time with her mother. When she was forced to stay at the palace, she snuck off to her secret hiding spot. He knew it was somewhere on the ceiling, accessed through a hole just big enough for him to fit through, but where it was exactly was a mystery.

His other loud daughter, Protea, wore her name like a badge, despite it being an undeniably awful name. The moment she had seen the Great Knights doing their warmups, it had almost visibly clicked in her mind what she wanted to do. Since that day, she never took off her royal blue cloak, always wearing it and always wearing the crest that symbolized that she was one of the Great Knights. She spent so much time with Ogrim that she no longer had a sense of smell, but thanks to that had quickly become proficient in every way or combat that the Great Knights practiced, and had gained Ogrim’s kind personality and awful jokes. She snuck around the palace at night, searching for “evildoers”, and often snitched on her siblings when they attempted to sneak out. She was practically incapable of lying, and had burst into tears during her one and only attempt at doing so.

His last daughter, and the one closest to him, the one his Root named, was Edelweiss, or Edel for short. She had quickly taken a shine to him and his inventions. She was a critical thinker, and when tasked with a problem, she was quick to create a solution, either out of spare parts or out of the parts of already existing contraptions. She had once stolen almost every clock in the palace so she could take them apart, and she wasn’t caught until it was far too late to save any of the clocks. She wore a pristine, white cloak, which she got anxious about when eating, and got even more anxious about when it received a stain or tear. She lacked the ability to communicate with people, not physically, but mentally. It seemed his anxiety had rubbed off on her, and she had developed a number of nervous ticks. Although all of the children had some slight anxiety, hers was by far the worst, so much so that she has so far refused to attend any public gathering. Herrah blames him for the way she developed, and he blames himself just as much, if not more.

Currently, all four of the girls were cuddled into his lap. Bedtime was one of the only times he could get Sigma to listen to him, and also the only time he could keep all of them in one place. Protea did her best to wrap her arms around everyone, Edel laid directly against him, and Sigma laid as far away from him as possible (although it wasn’t that far, and she would usually slowly inch her way closer to him, whether out of the need for warmth, or her suppressed love for her father), and Lance leaned against his elbow, her small, delicate arms wrapped tightly around his. They always loved getting read to, and they always made sure never to miss storytime, even if most of them snuck out after dark to explore the palace once again.

He let out a quiet yawn, careful not to wake his children as they huddled closer together. When he agreed to have a child with the Queen of Deepnest, he never expected he would have more than one, and would never have imagined that it would be like this, but he was so glad this is what he got. He wondered if any of his daughters would ever get their wings, but judging from their lack of wing buds, it was unlikely. This saddened him, but at least they were happy, and none would be jealous of the others. 

Slowly, he found himself drifting off to sleep. He gently placed down the book, and carried his daughters over to their nest. An assortment of pillows, stuffed animals, blankets, stolen items, old food, rocks, and anything else they could collect. He carefully slipped into the nest, holding them close to his chest as his eyes began to shut, and he curled around them like a wyrm would to its hatchlings. It made him happy, oh so happy, to know that they were safe, though they would certainly wake him before dawn. With the last of his energy, he gave each of them a small kiss on their forehead, like his mother had done to him when he was but a child. 

And then sleep came, and then it went, and the children snuck away from their fathers embrace, but they would always return at the end of the day, as none of them could fall asleep without his stories and his cuddles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to ask that no one makes predictions, at least until it is revealed. If you do, I will have to delete your comment, very sorry


	3. Guard Duty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The King is up late, but it turns out he is not the only one up so late

The King yawned, it was late, late that he had been working in his workshop, trying to perfect the seals of binding, so that he could be sure the vessel plan wouldn’t fail. 

The stress was slowly getting to him, he needed to keep his people calm, prepare the dreamers, keep an eye on the infection, finish preparing the vessel plan, and keep an eye on his four daughters, who’s yells and havok filled the halls every hour of most days. 

They were as evil as they were sweet. Sometimes Edel would sneak into his workshop and sit in his lap while he worked, and on some occasions, she would try to put something together. She once got her hands on something sharp and made a rotating weapon, and had almost killed a retainer when demonstrating how it worked to her sisters. No more sharp objects were allowed in his workshop.

Sigma had started stealing clothes and documents made of silk and unraveling them. Where the silk went from there was a mystery, but her acts of thievery were usually followed by a new trap being set up. Seven retainers had already fallen into these traps, wrapped up and hung from the ceiling, and would eventually be saved by a Great Knight, or Protea, or a Kingsmold. It was quite impressive how much the children could lift and carry.

Whether intentional or not, Lance had become a fear of many retainers. She spent a lot of time in the shadows, silent and still, and she would scare the retainers who walk past, either by jumping out or letting out a yell. It was good that she had begun to develop a voice, but she still rarely used it. When she wasn’t harassing retainers, she was atop the Hollow Knight’s shoulders, getting them to take her places. Most of these adventures ended in the kitchen, where Lance would eat as much food as she could get her hands on, and would share food with their voidborne half-sibling. Thanks to this, he learned that the Hollow Knight did in fact have a mouth.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sounds of soft, distant marching. He approached it curiously, making sure not to reveal his presence. “Hup! Two, thwee, fouw, hup! Two, thwee, fouw, hup!” Protea repeated as she walked back and forth down the hallway in front of their nestroom. She held a tree branch (undoubtedly a gift from their step-mother) in her left hand, and a small, round lid in her right hand, as if she were a guard in the Capital.

Suddenly, she stopped and went into a defensive stance. “Hawt! Who goes thewe?” Her fangs had recently grown in, she was the last of her sisters to receive them on account of her being the smallest. She put her sword and shield on the ground and hurried down the hallway a bit, pulling her “intruder” into the dim light of the lumafly lanterns, a bucket on wheels with a mop in it, all dressed up in a cloak. 

She pulled it into the center of the hallway before rushing back. “Intwudew! I’ww not wet you hurt my famiwy!” She yelled, in a hushed voice as to not wake her sleeping sisters. She leapt forward, wacking the side of the mop with her branch before smacking the bucket with her shield, sending it rolling down the hallway. “Oh no! Come back!” She called, hurrying to stop the “intruder” from escaping. 

With a strong leap, she tackled the mop, landing inside of the bucket and knocking it all over. He couldn’t help but chuckle, approaching his battle hardened child. There was a rustle beneath the cloak, and a moment later, her head popped out from the rubble.

“Daddy! I saved the whowe pawace!” She announced proudly. He reached out, grabbing her from her latest victim.

“I see. You’re very strong, and I’m very proud, I doubt even Ogrim could have handled that.” He said, a smile spreading across his mandibles. 

“Nuh uh! Ogwim can do anything! But I bet Hegemow couldn’t do that! He’s too heavy!” She explained. He let out a soft laugh, going over to the pair of doors that led to their nestroom. They were locked.

“Protea, how did you get out of your room?” He asked. The child in his arms made themself comfortable, snuggling into his robes as much as she could.

“Thwough Sigma’s secwet tunnew! I can show you whewe it is!” She said, immediately unburrowing and leaping from his arms. And in a moment's notice, she had run out of sight and down the hall. Thankfully, he was still quite fit and easily caught up to where the child had run off to.

“It’s wight here!” She said, pointing at the small crack in the wall. “Sigma and Edew cawved it out with shawp things! But I know shawp things are bad, so I took them away!” She explained proudly.

He got down on his knees, gazing through the hole. It was barely small enough for him to fit his hand through, and was no way big enough for a growing child to fit through. 

“Now, how did you fit through here? It looks very small.” He asked.

“Cawefuwwy, but I can’t show you cause I pwomised Sigma I wouldn’t.” She says. 

“Well, then I guess I can’t return you to your nest. Where are you going to sleep tonight?” He asked. She tapped her chin in thought for a moment.

“I’ww go thwough, but you can’t wook! You pwomise you won’t wook, wight?” She asked. He nodded before turning around. Only a few moments later, there was a click at the door to their nestroom, and the door opened. 

“Well, thank you for unlocking the door, please tell your sisters not to lock it again.” He said, voice little more than a whisper. Protea nodded eagerly. He crouched down and gave her a bedtime kiss on her forehead. “Go off to bed now, I love you, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He cooed. 

“I wove you too, dad!” She said, before pushing the door closed, and quickly running back to her sister's nest. 

They were safe, she had once again ensured so, and now she could rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re going to have some angst soon, I promise.
> 
> I would like to ask that no one makes predictions, at least until it is revealed. If you do, I will have to delete your comment, very sorry


	4. An Arrangement of Flowers for Everyone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance makes a visit to the Gardens of the palace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said to myself: “what if I did a flower chapter? Will Terribly did a flower chapter!” And then I found out how much of a clown I am when I discovered that Will Terribly didn’t use specific flowers. :(

The Queen’s gardens were usually quiet. This was where the Hollow Knight resided when not being ordered around, as did the Queen and her guard, and on occasion, a small child by the name of Lance. The flowers bloomed beautifully on days like these. The Queen of Hallownest, or the White Lady, as some called her, or Root, as less called her, sat peacefully with her knight on one side of her, and the Hollow Knight on the other. The Hollow Knight stood tall and steady, back straight, chin up, as it always stood. Dryya, being about half of its height, stood tall and proud, with her nail by her side.

At one point Dryya had sat in the gardens without her nail. Those times had long gone, ever since the failed assassination attempt on the King’s life, and the successful assassination attempt on the Lord Fool’s life, the political climate was much less safe. Even Deepnest was becoming dangerous, and the children spent less and less time with their mother, much to Sigma’s dismay.

The complete silence of the garden was momentarily disrupted by the sounds of quiet, quickly approaching footsteps, as Lance, the largest of Herrah’s children, ran up to the Queen.

“Hello, Lance. How nice to see you today.” The White Lady said with a smile on her face. Lance pouted.

“How’d you know I was coming? I was being sneaky!” She said, despite having run through several puddles to get to here. Her black cloak was caked in mud, as was part of her face.

“I could hear you through my roots, dear. There is a small part of me in every plant here.” The White Lady explained. Suddenly, a root that had been slithering towards the small weaver child wrapped around her torso and brought her to the White Lady’s lap. Lance let out a squeak, but once she was in the Queen’s lap, she settled down. The Root used a root to wipe away the mud on the child’s face.

“Say, my child, do you think you could help me make some flower arrangements today? I do need a few, and thought it might be fun for you to make some for yourself, your family, and your mother.” The Queen said. The child’s dull eyes seemed to almost brighten at this. 

“Can I make one for Holly?” She asked. Dryya seemed to flinch at that question, but the Queen was much better at hiding that sort of thing. Holly was the name the children had gifted to the Hollow Knight. A name was a dangerous thing, especially when gifted to one meant to be hollow.

“Well, you must ask them first, it’s only polite.” She said. The child jumped off of her lap, leaving a muddy stain. 

“Holly! Can I make you a bundle of flowers?” She asked. The vessel stood still, and although its head craned slightly to get a better look at the child, it made no indication it had heard.

“Holly has just whispered to my roots that they would like a bundle of flowers.” The White Lady said with a large smile. “Do you need me to tell you what the flowers mean again?” She asked. Lance shook her head before racing off into the gardens to gather flowers.

A few moments later she returned with a group of flowers. “Where do I put them?” She asked.

“Hand them to me, and I will place them in a vase.” The Queen offered. Lance extended her flowers and she grabbed them with one of her roots before delicately placing them in a vase. 

“Those are Edel’s.” She announced before running off again. In this bundle were red columbines, symbolizing anxiety, daisies, symbolizing innocence and hope, hyssops, symbolizing cleanliness, and pansies, symbolizing thought. 

In a few moments, the child returned with yet another collection of flowers. “These are Sigma’s,” She said, before once again racing away. This arrangement of flowers contained borages, symbolizing bluntness, hollyhocks, symbolizing ambition, yellow jasmines, symbolizing grace and elegance, and oaks, symbolizing strength.

Once again the child returned with more flowers. “Protea’s,” She said, before leaving her again. Nasturtiums, symbolizing patriotism, edelweisses, symbolizing courage and devotion, coreopsis, symbolizing eternal cheerfulness, and anthuriums, symbolizing hospitality.

Again, they returned with perhaps the biggest bundle yet. “This one is for Holly.” She said, handing them over to the Queen. This arrangement contained oak-leaved geraniums, symbolizing true friendship, hydrangeas, symbolizing gratitude for being understood, papavers, symbolizing remembrance and sacrifice, corianders, symbolizing hidden worth, dills, symbolizing power against evil, purple columbines, symbolizing resolution, and a single forget-me-not, symbolizing a plea to not be forgotten. 

The child held two more flowers behind her back. A marigold, symbolizing cruelty and jealousy, and a purple hyacinth, symbolizing regret and a request for forgiveness.

“Could I ask who that bundle is for?” Lance shook her head.

“It’s not for anyone.” She mumbled, a large frown across her face. Dryya also frowned, not at the child’s most recent bundle, but instead at the one she had made for the Hollow Knight. It seemed the Queen wasn’t the only one who felt sympathy for the emotionless knight.

“How about you and Holly go to get some snacks from the kitchen?” The White Lady offered. Lance shook her head. 

“I’m not hungry right now, I’m tired, Sigma was running around all night!” She explained.

“Well, vessel, can you take Lance back to her nestroom?” The Queen asked. The Knight made no acknowledgement of her request for several seconds, and then it started walking. Lance wrapped a hand around one of its long claws, waving at her step-mother and Dryya.

“Oh! Wait! I forgot one more flower for you!” She said, letting go of Holly’s claw for a moment to run off back into the garden.

Lance returned a few moments later, a pink carnation in hand. She tried to give it to their half-sibling, to Holly. They simply stared for a moment, and then they plucked a butterfly weed from the soil with their long, defined, jointed fingers, and handed it to her. She looked as if she would cry, but she ran toward her half-sibling and clung to their chest the best they could.

“Please don’t go. Please, I don’t want to lose you.” The child cried. The Hollow Knight looked around the surrounding area, checking to make sure there would be no one to witness their next actions. They got down on their knees and pulled their little sister into their lap and hugged them tightly. “Please don’t go, I love you, you promised you’d keep us safe.” Lance cried. They patted her back and held her, rocking her gently. 

She eventually fell asleep, and was then returned to her nest, where she would remain asleep. The Hollow Knight did not leave the room until the Pale King came to put the rest of the children to bed. They had indeed promised their sister they would protect her, and they would not fail her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The website I got flower information from said that pink carnations say “I will never forget you”, and butterfly weeds say “let me go”.


	5. Bedtime with Big Sibling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holly, as the kids have named them, has some play time with their siblings before bed

Sigma thought she was being smart, getting Edel to distract Holly while she made a run for it, but her plan was foiled when the familiar, cold, lanky fingers of their big sibling wrapped around her and brought her back to their lap.

“No! I was escaping!” She hissed, biting down on their finger. Hollow gave no reaction besides a gentle pat on the head. “I’m not a baby anymore! I can do stuff on my own.” Holly shook their head in disagreement.

“You are a baby.” They signed. They were still getting used to it, and knew they could only use it around their little sisters, but it made all four of them so happy, how could they resist at least trying?

Sigma, and the rest of her sisters, had learned Deepnest sign after Lance started to have trouble speaking. Nothing worrying, the doctor said, her vocal cords were just underdeveloped, which caused her voice to be lower and softer. It made for good narrating, though.

Anyways, Herrah had told Sigma how terrible her father was, and even though she didn’t see it nor understand it, it gave her an excuse to terrorize him and not feel bad. Retainers were caught in webs, papers and documents were eaten, his white robes were stained with stolen paints and honey.

But the highest mischief they had committed was teaching Holly how to sign. They were told time and time again that their older sibling needed to be hollow. They were the Hollow Knight, it only made sense. Sigma asked her step-mother what being hollow meant, and she explained it as having no mind to think, and no voice to speak. 

In order to get the ultimate revenge on her father, Sigma unhollowed his knight. She taught them how to speak, and how to think, and what emotions meant. And father and mother never knew! And they wouldn’t, at least until Holly perfected their sign. 

But due to this, their sibling had also become much more protective and cuddly. When tasked with watching over them, Holly kept them as close as possible. For Sigma, it was a challenge. Yes, she loved her half-sibling, but she also knew they were the strongest, fastest, and smartest knight in the entire kingdom! She couldn’t even imagine how proud her mother would be when she learned that her daughter had outsmarted the best Hallownest had to offer!

Currently, the group of sisters and sibling were in their nestroom. The same one Holly had grown up in, and that had later been gifted to the three sisters, and then room was made for the fourth, and now that the palace was becoming more dangerous, all five of the siblings lived in this room. Holly couldn’t complain, they loved their sisters to bits, and any excuse to play with them, they would take.

“Up! Up!” Protea demanded, arms raised and her smile wide. Holly used their other arm to lift Protea up to their head. She wrapped her arms around one of their horns, climbing up as far as they could go. “I’ll keep us safe!” She exclaimed, freeing one of her claws from their grip around their horns to pull the pale branch off of her back, before returning to having both arms wrapped around Holly’s horn. Even after hours of training, she was still full of energy. 

Lance snuggled up closer to their side, her small hands holding their forearm in place. It wasn’t that they couldn’t move, but if they did, it would certainly be high treason to the order of the sisters. They would surely be executed on the spot. Their sibling hugged their arm as tightly as possible, which was understandable with how close it was getting to their end. Their approaching end deeply saddened them. The poor children’s mother and sibling would be taken from them in only a few days.

Edel sat perfectly in the center of their lap, not touched by any bit of their chitin, as she did not enjoy physical contact. She was exhausted from a long day of following Quirrel and asking him questions. Questions such as “why does it rain?”, and “where does the rain come from?”, and “how many inventions has Quirrel made?”, and “why Quirrel is so weak if his knowledge is power?”. As much as she enjoyed spending time with the Archivist, she was not scared of insulting him in the name of gaining more knowledge. Most of the knowledge wasn’t even important, and would likely be forgotten within a few days.

Sigma’s chewing on their finger began to hurt, so they gently pried their finger out of her jaws and returned to petting her head with their thumb. Sigma growled before trying to hide behind Edel. Sigma is one of the only people Edel trusts, which is something the red-clad spiderling bragged about a lot.

“You can’t get me, Holly! I’m safe here!” She hisses. Holly looked at Edel questioningly, and the nervous child nodded, accepting what would come next. Holly quickly scooped them up, tossing them a few feet before safely catching them. Edel let out a loud laugh, something she rarely did, but it made Holly beam with joy. Sigma let out a screech, but it was too late for her. She was trapped in their cuddle grip. 

Protea let out a squeak when her balance was upset, but Holly quickly grabbed her with their other arm. At this point, Lance was also up, but she used her waking moments to snuggle closer to Holly. Gathering them in their arms, they carried them over to their nest and gently set them down. “Stay.” They signed. Lance was already falling back to sleep, as was Edel. 

“You can’t tell me what to do!” Sigma hissed, but before she could bolt out of their nest, Protea tackled her. Sigma growled, but her threats were drowned out by her smaller sibling’s laughter. Sigma squirmed out from Protea’s grasp, turning the tables and grabbing Protea, picking her up before playfully slamming her into the stuffing of the nest.

“No fighting.” They reprimanded, earning a glare from Sigma. Before they knew what was happening, the small child was halfway across the room, but a quick teleport put them in front of her.

“No fair! You can’t do that!” The child complained. Holly huffed before retrieving the child once again, and carrying them back to the nest.

“Bedtime.” They signed, before pressing a gentle kiss to Sigma’s forehead. Sigma shoved her head up, either in an attempt to hurt them and get revenge, or to get a bigger kiss. They had learned about kisses from watching their father kiss their mother, and later seeing their father give their sisters bedtime kisses. According to Sigma, these were required, and it was impossible to sleep without them. 

They gently kneeled, getting as close to Edel as they could without touching her, before blowing a kiss onto her shell. She giggled before wrapping herself in her clean blanket, and pulling her stuffed tiktik close to her side. Edel often got scared when alone, but as long as her tiktik was with her, she was never alone.

Protea buried her head into the blankets. She insisted that “mighty warriors” didn’t need kisses, but Holly disagreed. They snaked a finger to her stomach and tickled lightly, forcing Protea to roll over and giggle and writhe uncontrollably, giving them the perfect opportunity to kiss her forehead.

Lance raised her head slightly, ready for the incoming kiss. Holly pretended as if they hadn’t seen it, but Lance let out a growl, and when they continued to play dumb, she whimpered. And then their hand, which she hadn’t seen, lifted her off of the nest, and they pressed a kiss upon her mask. She seemed content with this, burying herself into the nest’s blankets. Sigma crawled over to Edel and pulled her into a hug, falling asleep soon after. Protea pulled Lance closer to the rest of them, wrapping her arms around the group of them as best she could, but being careful not to touch Edel. They were cute, so cute that it made their heart ache.

Father would be here soon. They dragged a blanket over the four children before settling on their bed, a simple layer of blankets. It might be basic, it might provide little to no comfort, but it was enough, and the bonus that they could make sure their sisters were safe. That was enough for them. They straightened their back, closed their eyes, and prepared for sleep to take them, if sleep would at all. 

Only a few more days now, and they would be gone. But their sisters could take care of themselves. It was okay, they weren’t needed anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how happy I am with this chapter? But I think I did it good, just not my favorite


	6. Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herrah has come to a decision: she wants to enjoy what little time she has left

There they were, all four of them, sitting, sleeping, playing, right in their living room. It was becoming more and more normal, and with every day that the imposter child wasn’t revealed, the more they settled into the family, became harder to find. 

The Pale King, that bastard, had told her that it was nothing to worry about. The children didn’t attack each other, didn’t exhibit any feral behaviors, and were just kids. He acted like Nosks weren’t one of the biggest threats to Deepnest, like her deceased husband hadn’t fought with their Queen to the death. She would never forget seeing that monster cleave him in half, right before her eyes. She had only wished she could have watched it die, but of course, it retreated into the lake far below, a drop that was sure to be fatal. It robbed her of her husband, and her revenge.

He acted as if the Nosks hadn’t been attacking Deepnest for eons, as if the appearance of another Nosk wasn’t extremely bad. There must be a new Queen, then. They had checked the Nosk den, they had cleared it out and ensured it was empty. They had hunted and killed every last one of the beasts, and now another one appeared without explanation. They knew the old den was gone, it was blown up. There must be a new one.

She felt a tug on her leg, looking down to see Sigma staring up at her. “Edel’s underneath the couch again.” She explained, pointing at the small child as she backed herself as far into the wall as possible.

“Come on! I just wanna hug you!” Protea cried as she tried to grab at her larger sister. Edel whimpered as she anxiously batted at dust and dirt, trying to keep it from getting in her cloak, while using her other hand to hug the toy tiktik as close to her chest as possible. Just a phase, she hoped. The Weavers would not respect her if she was as spick-and-span as the nobility of Hallownest. It was also becoming worrying that the child hadn’t yet grown out of her toy. She could not be a princess if she carried that tiktik with her everywhere.

She had honestly hoped Edel would inherit her father’s wings so the Weavers would realize they were picking on a god. The same part of her reminded her of her hate for the Pale King. If her children grew wings, she probably would have torn them off.

“Edel, honey. Come out from under the couch.” Herrah cooed. Edel nervously began approaching her but Protea dashed to a closer location, continuing her attempts to grab her sister. “Protea. Leave your sister alone, she doesn’t want a hug right now.” She reprimanded. Protea collapsed at this, a frown wide across her face. Edel crept out from under the couch, approaching her littlest sister. She gently pats them several times on their head with their free arm, before retreating to Sigma and Herrah. 

Edel was a strange one. She inherited her father’s nervousness, but also his mind. It was to the point that she downright refused to be held or touched by anyone other than the king and Sigma, and occasionally the Hollow Knight. It made no sense to her, how could a child fear their mother’s touch? And this had been happening even before she started spending large amounts of time with the Wyrm, so it wasn’t a behavior he ingrained into her. She had become so desperate that she went to Monomon for help. Monomon said it was something called Haphephobia, a condition where intense fear and pain can occur just from physical contact with another bug. 

It made her angry that the bastard king could hold her daughter but she couldn’t. And why did the child allow Sigma to hold her hand? Why was Sigma allowed to hug her and cuddle her? Why was the Hollow Knight occasionally granted permission but not always? She understood why Midwife would be able to hold the child, but nothing else made sense. She hated, hated, hated illnesses of the brain, because it never made sense to her. No one in her now-deceased family had any, the Pale King didn’t have any, so why did her child have one?

“Dinner is ready.” The Weaver servant exclaimed from the kitchen. After her husband, the previous king, had passed, most of their servants had left, but thankfully they weren’t fully abandoned. This Weaver, for example, had stayed and helped with the children, even when the Nosk had infiltrated their ranks.

Sigma grabbed Edel’s hand and pulled her along to the kitchen, almost causing the small child to fall over. Protea ran to the kitchen and somehow got there before Sigma and Edel, while Lance took her time, placing her toys back in their positions, and making her way to the kitchen. Another odd thing, why had Sigma grown to be the same size as Edel, while Lance had grown taller, and Protea had grown shorter? She could understand if it was only one of them, that would make it obvious who the Nosk is, but it was two of them.

The four children climbed into their chairs, always seated in a specific order. Lance, Protea, Sigma, and finally Edel. The Weaver servant picked up five plates in her hands and placed them around the table. “Annia, why don’t you serve yourself a plate?” Herrah asked. 

“I don’t know, I should probably get home soon. I wouldn’t want to be late.” Annia said nervously. It was a lie, obviously. Annia had no one to go home to, as her family had died to the infection a few years prior, and she barely went home at all, spending most nights in the Capital city drinking. Not only was this a secret, but the very fact that she was Herrah’s servant was secret. It was dangerous to do either in such a dangerous political climate.

“At least take some food with you before you go.” Herrah pleaded. Annia nodded silently, wrapping up some of the meat in silk. The children had already begun eating. Lance shoved as much food in her mouth as she could, while Edel carefully cut off slices to eat. Protea took small bites out of the meat while she held it with her bare hands, grease and sauce running down her hands. Sigma took large bites, before realizing that she had bitten off too much, and spending the next few minutes chewing. She repeated this process with every bite.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Herrah. Good Night.” Annia said as she went for the door, putting on her heavy coat to protect her from the rain of the Capital. And with that, she was gone, leaving the small spider family of five to themselves for a long time. Unbeknownst to her at the time, this would be the last time she saw Annia, either murdered in the Capital, slain by beasts, or stolen away by that damned cult of bells. She sighed once the servant was gone, turning her attention to her children.

“My children, I would like to tell you something.” She said. All four of them turned their heads to her. “I would like to say that it does not matter to me if one of you is a Nosk. You are all my children, and you will always be, no matter what happens.” She explained, and she really meant it. She knew she didn’t have much time left until she began her eternal sleep, she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her children, and she wanted to be happy. “If the one who was not born of me would like to announce themself, there would be no consequences. That secret would not leave this room, but I understand if you do not wish to expose yourself.” Herrah felt like she was on the verge of tears. Her eventual doom had given her the best part of her life, and her eventual doom would take it all away.

None of her children said anything. That was alright. She could feel tears swelling at the corners of her eyes and she needed to remove her mask to wipe them away. “Why is mama crying?” Protea asked. Lance silently slinked out of her chair and approached her, wrapping her arms around her mother’s leg. Sigma and Protea got out of their seats to join the hug, doing their best to pull their mother into an embrace as she struggled not to cry. Suddenly, she felt a tight squeeze on her finger, opening her eyes to see Edel holding her finger with her unoccupied hand. 

That broke her. The Beast of Deepnest, the Merciless Queen, broke down into tears while her children comforted her. She hoped her final days with them would be happy, that was all she could ever dream of.


	7. Proteas Got A Girlfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The King of Hallownest learns that his smallest daughter has become more respected in the Mantis Village than he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of years after the last chapter. Should be the last time jump

The King first learned that his daughter was affiliated with the Mantis Village through one of the Mantis Lord’s themselves, when they came to discuss trade routes. Kieza, the Fourth Mantis Lord, was shocked to find that he was Protea’s father, and because of this he “sweetened the deal” by giving him a small, personal area to hunt in. This was apparently because his daughter was “a strong yet sweet and honorable girl”, and because Kieza was proud that the small king could raise such a strong child. He didn’t have the heart to tell the Mantis Lord that he hadn’t actually trained Protea. The Lord’s explanation was followed by the Mantis Lord ranting about his own daughter for at least an hour. The King has yet to visit his hunting grounds, but Kieza said it is quite nice.

Apparently, without his knowledge, Protea had been “sneaking out” to the Mantis Village multiple times a week to visit a mantis named Amaryllis. Her first visit had been after she had discovered Ze’mer sneaking out to go to the mantis village, and demanded that the silverfish take her along so she could keep her safe. It was thanks to this journey that Protea not only met Ze’mer’s girlfriend, but also the four Mantis Lords and Amaryllis. How long this has been going on for, he has no clue, but apparently, everyone but him was aware of it.

When he asked the Great Knights about it, they all admitted that it had been going on for quite some time, but that they every time she snuck out recorded in a log in the training area. Protea wasn’t allowed to “sneak out” without informing at least three of the Great Knights, and her stepmother. His Root had laughed about it when she realized he had no clue, claiming she had left several reminders on his work desk throughout the years that his daughter had been sneaking out. He hadn’t believed her at first, but when he checked his work desk he found at least a hundred notes written on silk sheets mixed in with other, forgotten, dusty papers.

But yes, it was now known to him that his daughter was well respected in the Mantis Tribe, and had been trained by all four of the Mantis Lords at least once, despite having never defeated them in battle. It was, apparently, an almost weekly occurrence that Protea would demand to fight the Mantis Lords to prove her strength, only for the four to unanimously deny her, claiming she had already proved her worth tenfold. The spiderling didn’t accept this answer, and would ask again in a few days.

It was nice to know this, but truthfully it wouldn’t have been too important to him. His daughters had their own lives, and they could do with them whatever they wanted, as long as they stayed safe and returned home before midnight. But that changed when a rather anxious mantis, followed by a younger mantis and Protea, rushed into the Palace one day. The Mantis was not one of high ranking, judging by the fact that he had never met them, but he still held himself proudly, and seemed just as infallible as the Mantis Lords themselves, save for the fact that he seemed absolutely terrified of the god-king before him.

“Hello, your pale majesty.” The Mantis squeaked, bowing down before him. The other mantis, who was undoubtedly Amaryllis, was helping Protea get settled. Protea, on the other hand, held a large, blood-stained cloth to her mouth, and she looked like she was in a lot of pain.

“I assume you are Amaryllis’s father, yes? It is nice to meet you. Is my daughter okay?” The King said as he got off of his throne and approached the mantis, who scrambled back to his feet when the Wyrm approached him.

“Yes, that’s me. I… well you see, our daughters were playing as they do, and they were training, and your daughter slipped and face-planted into a wall and… well, she knocked out one of her fangs.” The father explained, trembling and cowering away from him.

“Ah, is she okay?” He asked, approaching Protea. She removed the cloth and gave him a big smile, which was noticeably missing one of her chelicerae, but besides that, and the blood that stained her royal blue cloak, she seemed to be okay.

“I do believe so. I am so absolutely sorry for this, I have heard from the Lords that you are a very forgiving king, and I came immediately to beg you not to hurt my daughter, it was a simple mistake and I promise it will never happen again. I can keep them separated if you need me to. I am so sorry.” The mantis said.

“I doubt your Lords would have said that. Quite the contrary, I am not a very forgiving king.” He said as he looked over his daughter’s state once again, thinking about the actions when he had first declared himself king of Hallownest. He thought about his fight against the Lord of Shades, his destruction of the Radiance, and the thousands of bodies in the Abyss. The mantis looked like he was on the verge of fainting, beads of sweat on his forehead and his hands shaking almost violently, and that’s when the King realized he forgot to finish his sentence. 

“Do not fear, I would not hurt you. It is, as you’ve said, a simple mistake. She is still a child, such things happen. I would ask that you do not separate them, but I would also like to offer, if you and your tribe allow it, that Amaryllis visits the Palace at some point in the future.” He finishes. The mantis lets out a breath that he had been holding in, almost collapsing onto his knees.

“Thank you, oh most gracious god-king of Hallownest.” The mantis said, bowing once again.

“Please, don’t call me that.” He requested. He was a king, yes, but he hated seeing people beg like that. It was awkward and uncomfortable, and most of the time the people begging were either completely innocent or so obviously guilty that the begging made no difference.

“Of course, your majesty. Come along, Amaryllis, let us head back home.” He said, beckoning her to follow. 

“I think I’ll stay here for a bit longer, if that’s okay, I’ll be back before dusk.” The mantis girl says. The mantis nods before practically dashing out of the palace, not even making sure it was okay with him that his daughter stays. Understandable, he supposes. He didn’t know so many people were so afraid of him. He would have to ask his Root for help on that.

“Well, you two have fun, and don’t get into trouble. I have some paperwork to get to, apparently, I’ve been ignoring a lot of papers.” He said. Protea let out a laugh at that. He hurried back to his office, leaving the two girls alone in the throne room.

“How’re you feeling?” Amaryllis asked, pushing Protea’s hand out of the way to assess her injuries.

“Babe, I’m fine. I promise, it hurts a bit but I’m strong, I’ll live.” Protea explained, flexing her muscles to impress her girlfriend. Amaryllis smirked and let out a giggle. She grabbed her hand and pulled her behind a pillar to get the two out of the vision of the emotionless kingsmolds. 

“I’m sure a kiss will make you feel better, right?” Amaryllis teased. Protea’s entire face went red, and she almost felt like she would pass out.

“But… but we’re in the throne room, what if someone sees?” She said, voice barely above a whimper.

"But, my dear fleeting shadow, is it truly shameful to love and be loved in return?" Amaryllis asked. Her face turned even redder, to the point that Amaryllis actually worried she might pass out, so she hooked an arm around Protea’s waist in case the princess did pass out. “So I ask you again, my princess, would a kiss make you feel better?” 

“That… that might make me feel a bit better, yes.” Protea whimpered, pulling the bloody cloth over her face. Amaryllis laughed at her, so soft and kind, yet still strong. The mantis pried her hands away from her face again, pressing a kiss upon her face. “Thanks.” Protea squeaked. Amaryllis laughed again, holding Protea’s head in her hands.

“I should probably be headed home, I’ll see you soon, yes?” Amaryllis asked. Protea nodded, rubbing her face where her girlfriend had kissed her. And with that, the two girls parted. 

The next time Protea visited the Mantis Village, she discovered that the Mantis Lords had created a charm for her. They called it the Mark of Pride, made out of the chelicerae she had knocked out. It joined her Hallownest crest on her cloak, and it hasn’t since left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Protea: I am fearless, brave, infallible!  
> Amaryllis: Hi.  
> Protea: *passes out*


	8. Dark Secrets From a Disturbed Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edel meets the Soul Master's assistant and gets him to spill the beans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I like this chapter too much, but I wanted to give Edel a friend who wasn't one of her siblings, and I wanted to have an AU where Charlie gets to live.

Edel was in the Archives. It was almost always quiet, and the cool, moist air felt nice on her carapace, and no one there was stupid enough to touch her to get her attention. It was her second favorite place, or maybe third. She enjoyed the atmosphere of her father’s workshop, and her own nestroom was more often than not silent. Still, the Archives was a nice place to study and learn. Sometimes she studied with Quirrel, sometimes she attended lectures from Monomon, sometimes she sat in some far corner of the Archives, reading stacks of journals and tubes of acid.

Today she was talking with Quirrel near the entrance of Uumuu’s container. She was asking about Uumuu, about how it functioned, how they created it, how they ran diagnosis checks and how they input more information into it. Quirrel, the smart pillbug he was, was able to answer every question he was asked. And then he had to leave, because Lurien had sent a complaint about a report of charged lumaflies on the Pilgrim’s Path. 

And so that was how she was left alone, resting for a moment, recording the information Quirrel had told her on her already cramped tablet that she would later add to the dozens of tablets she owned, all stuffed in a secret cubby that only she and Sigma knew of. That’s when the sound of loud, approaching footsteps. She knew those footsteps, only because everyone else who visited the Archives was at least conscious of the fact that people were studying. 

The Soul Master walked down the hallway, in his usual attire of large, billowing cloak, accompanied by two Soul Warriors, and his assistant. Edel knew little to nothing about the kid. She only knew that the assistant and the Soul Master had a similar relationship as Quirrel and Monomon did, that is to say, close friends (something about the way they kept a few feet away from the Soul Master, and how they were always in a defensive stance went against her assumption). Unfortunately, it was too late for her to make a run for it. She’d have to endure talking to the Soul Master. 

“Ah, what do we have here?” He asked. His assistant looked up from the floor he’d been staring at, seemingly in a daze. “I never thought I’d see THE Edel, as in the daughter of the Pale King himself! Right here, in this dump of wasted talent and useless knowledge!” He said with a large grin on his face. “How are your studies going?”

“They’re going well, I’ve learned a lot here and I am excited to use what I’ve learned in the real world.” She said. It was a cookie-cutter response, something she’d said to everyone who’d ever asked her about her studies, but it seemed that her response got the Soul Master extremely excited. 

“I’m very excited for the day that you join us at the Soul Sanctum. We are the most prestigious scholarly building in the entirety of Hallownest after all! And we’re the best place for you out there!” He exclaimed. What? She hid her bafflement at his gall of this man and pretended to be interested to the best of her abilities. “I know how you Deepnest-ians are, you like your low lighting, so I know you’d be excited to hear that we work in mostly low-light environments.” Correct in some sense, but only because she was photosensitive. It seems he wasn’t done, unfortunately. “I know how your father is about loud noises. Our rooms are completely soundproofed, if someone was getting murdered in the next room over, you wouldn’t even hear it.” 

She made her best fake smile and lied through her teeth. “That’s all very interesting, sir. I’ll be sure to think about it when the time comes.” The Soul Master bought her lie and his grin only got larger. 

“Well, Charlie, how about you get to know Edel here while I go and talk to Monomon?” The Soul Master asked. The mention of his name finally snapped him out of his trance.

“Who, sir?” He asked, voice still sounding slightly dazed.

“This beautiful young lady before you! Isn’t she dashing?” The Soul Master asked. She was starting to understand why no one wanted to be around him.

“What?” Charlie asked, like he didn’t quite understand that the Soul Master was trying to play Cupid. 

“Don’t worry about it. Just talk to her while I go and discuss things with Monomon, okay?” The Soul Master explained. After a few moments of thinking, Charlie nodded in confirmation that he had indeed heard what he said. The Soul Master and his guards departed, leaving Charlie and Edel awkwardly standing a few feet apart from one another in complete silence.

“So, uh… how are your studies at the Sanctum going?” She asked. She hated small talk, but she would rather endure it than stand a moment more in this awkward silence. Charlie seemed confused by the question.

“I don’t really study, I just help in experiments and the such.” He explained.

“Ok. Well, how is your family?” 

“Oh, well, my family died a while ago, and I haven’t seen them since I started working for him, and I’ve been under his wing since a few years before that,” Charlie explains. “I don’t really want to talk about it, sorry.” He adds. Now that she’s getting a closer look at him, he looks awful. He has small bags under his eyes, his hands are clammy and he picks and scratches at the joints of his hands, his shell seems discolored, and many parts are scarred over.

It’s none of her business, really, but she can’t help but be curious. “Are you okay? You don’t look too good.” Edel asks. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m just on a new antidepressant. The Soul Master says it isn’t reacting well to my body, so he’s looking for a new one to put me on.” Charlie explains. 

She thinks she’s onto something. She knows somethings off about the Soul Master, everyone does. She just needs to pry. “I’m also on antidepressants. What brand is it, that the Soul Master has you on?” She lies.

“Oh, I didn’t know there were brands. Most of the time he makes the concoctions himself, usually a bottle at a time. Are there store-bought antidepressants? I should probably tell him that, it’ll make things much easier.” Charlie explains. Something seems wrong.

“Do you know what he puts in the concoctions?” She asks, taking a step closer to him, bringing her voice down a notch in case the Soul Master was eavesdropping.

“Oh, heavens no. I’m only an assistant, I’m not allowed in the medicine closet.” He explains.

“Charlie, that’s your name, right?” She asks. Charlie nods. “Well, Charlie, when were you diagnosed with depression?” Charlie hesitates before answering, like he isn’t quite sure.

“Well… I wasn’t diagnosed until the Soul Master took me under his wing, but that was because my family was poor. But I have a lot of symptoms, like nausea, insomnia, and nightmares, fatigue, bouts of dizziness, dehumanization, hopelessness, flashbacks, loss of interest, I cry a lot, I’m not very social, I can never quite get enough sleep, and the agitation and anxiety.” He explains with a wave of his hand.

“Those aren’t normal symptoms, are you sure depression is the only thing you have?” She asked. He didn’t respond. “Charlie.” She said, to snap him out of his daze. “Are sure you’re okay?” He was shaking now. “Charlie, you can tell me what happened.” She said.

He seemed to snap at that. “No. No, I can’t tell you, you don’t get it, I can’t defect from the Soul Sanctum, not after everything the Soul Master has done for me, and after I’ve seen what he does to defectors.” The boy whimpers, on the verge of tears.

“What does that mean? Charlie, you can trust me, I promise. What happened?” Charlie was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack at this point. She grabbed his hand as her sister did to her when she had panic attacks. “You see this?” She asked while showing him their hands. “This means you’re safe. The Soul Master can’t hurt you as long as I’m holding your hand.” She explained. Even though it made her uncomfortable to the point that she thought she’d throw up, she endured it.

“I lied… I lied… I’m so sorry. I’ve seen my parents, my mother at least. They killed her, I found her body in the pit when they sent me down there to collect jewelry. Gods, her face, her face was so scared and she was all shriveled up, and there were so many bodies, and, and… they’ll kill me if they figure out I’ve defected… oh gods what have I done! They’re going to kill me!” He started bawling. She had expected only a misuse of drugs, but this was much worse.

“Okay, listen to me Charlie, I need to tell Lurien, okay?” She explained. Charlie’s eyes went wide, and he looked like he was about to pass out. “It’s going to be okay, I promise. See? You’re safe No one will know you told them, okay?” She said, and thankfully Charlie looked like he was calming down. He gripped her hand tighter, to the point that she feared he would break her carapace, but it was going to be okay, they were going to tell Lurien, inform him of what the Soul Master has been doing, and then Charlie would be safe. 

Everything would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect a shorter follow up chapter tomorrow. Sorry for the decrease in quality, I’ll get on it and get back to the sibling stuff soon


	9. The Price of Stopping a Serial Killer: Paper Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the Soul Sanctum has been busted, Lurien gets to decide the fates of everyone involved in the fiasco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't felt too well all day, so I wrote this shorter chapter. Enjoy Beeble getting got.

Lurien groaned as he put up another signed document. Gods above, there were so many people in the Soul Sanctum, and the only ones who didn’t have criminal evidence against them were the kid, Charlie, and a few janitors. Everyone else had a large part in the hundreds of murders. So much paperwork. The Watcher wouldn’t be doing anything other than paperwork for months. 

The big sentences first, he told himself. This was the only part of his job that he hated, besides dealing with nobles, and pretty much anyone else besides the King, his butler, and maybe Monomon. He signed off on another Soul Twister, another execution. Wow, this next one was only three life sentences. Wasn’t that incredible?

When Edel showed up, and she was practically dragging a cockroach behind her, he had been very confused, but he knew something was wrong. Edel would never willingly come into physical contact with another bug. Charlie, the kid she dragged in, confessed everything that he knew about the Soul Sanctum, and before he even finished speaking, Lurien already had his Watcher Knights ready to go raid the Soul Sanctum. He was glad he didn’t have to run a report on the deceased individuals found inside, that would be even worse than what he had now.

Read their crimes, decide their punishments, sign off on it, put it in the pile to be sent to the King for review. His butler, Lumen, brought him another stack of papers. “Did they find more scholars in the walls or something?” Lurien asked, looking at the obscene amount of papers. Lumen shook his head.

“I just finished documenting all of the Soul Master’s crimes. I recommend you start on it now, the King wants his conviction by the end of the week.” Lumen explained. Just like Lurien, Lumen also had bags under his eyes. Sleep was not welcome in the Watcher’s Spire, and when it was, it was only here for a few hours.

Lurien sighed. It was at least three inches thick, documents upon documents of Lumen’s already cramped writing. If he didn’t find a crime worthy of execution in the first few pages, he would have to start adding up the life sentences. “Thank you, place them right there, I’ll get to it when I finish this acolytes conviction. I think he’s going to get to live.” Lurien said. 

“That’s nice I suppose.” Lumen muttered, placing the pile of documents on the end of the table.

“Nevermind, he’s going to be executed.” Lurien corrected. Lumen let out a sad sigh before moving to his side of the Watcher’s Spire and collapsing onto the couch. The Watcher couldn’t blame Lumen for being upset about all of this, these acolytes, scholars, and warriors were all his childhood friends, his classmates, his neighbors, and now he was going to have to write them up to be executed. And also paperwork was awful. Hopefully, his dreams would be nicer to him than the waking world.

Lurien signed off of the execution and placed it in the completed forms pile before getting started on the awful amount of paperwork that was Beeble, the Fourth and final Soul Master. He started his examination by writing a note at the bottom of the page, reminding whoever publicly announced these convictions to say Beeble’s name. He skimmed through the Soul Masters prior record from before the King had put him on top of trials and convictions. No convictions to speak of, though he had been accused of plenty of crimes, including the murder of Lurien’s sister (he had led that case before he became the Watcher). He wanted to immediately end this by executing this bastard, but he had a mature job to do, he couldn’t just execute him no matter how much he wanted him dead.

The first dozen or so convictions were of nonconsensual druggings. He had obtained a ludicrous amount of drugs, both legal and illegal, from almost every pharmaceutical company and drug dealer in the city. Documents from his private studies showed that he drugged his employees in hopes of finding the “perfect state to extract soul”. He did this behind the guise of giving medicine to his employees, the worst druggings going to the child, Charlie. The kid was told he had depression, and was consequently drugged random concoctions of different medicines almost daily to keep him sedated

On the topic of Charlie, the kid had an entire page dedicated entirely to crimes committed against him by the Soul Master. According to the Soul Master’s diary, Beeble had become obsessed with the child because he thought Charlie was “perfect in both form, mind, and soul”. If the kid ever was any of those things, the druggings and PTSD had long since taken them away. Child endangerment was, of course, the most common. Charlie’s parents never signed a consent form for him to be taken away, so kidnapping was on the list. Wage theft, as well, as none of the money Charlie should have been making ever got to his parents. And, crossing records, all of the kid’s family members were dead, either from the infection or from the Soul Sanctum themselves. Wonderful, the kid needed to be sent to an orphanage, he also needed to be placed in intensive therapy and a witness protection program to protect him from any acolytes who didn’t go to work that day (there were at least a dozen who were now on the run).

Now onto the more serious crimes, if druggings weren’t already serious. Assisting in the kidnappings of hundreds of bugs, assisting in the murders of hundreds of bugs, misuse of bodies, grave robbing, torture, coverups, aiding in assassinations of witnesses, destruction of property both private and public, stealing from hospitals, muggings, aiding in the assassination of “defectors” to the Soul Sanctum, identity theft, arson, blackmail, bribery crimes, concealing escaped prisoners, counterfeiting, drug abuse violations, drug smuggling, drug trafficking, extortion, failure to appear on a felony offense, false bail, forced labor, forgery, injuring and killing city guards, illegal possession of explosives, money laundering, obstruction of court orders and justice, possession of narcotics, product tampering, probation violation, sabotage, shoplifting, stalking, theft of trade secrets, vandalism… 

It had been multiple hours since he started reading the Soul Master’s crimes. Lurien crunched the numbers on the margins of the documents, and he stopped counting at about two hundred life sentences. Fuck this, he thinks, as he writes execution at the bottom of the page and calls it a day.


	10. A Fool and His Brother’s Corpse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sisters Protea and Sigma arrive at the Coliseum of Fools, only to find that it’s closed down for today

“Hurry up, slowpoke! The Coliseum’s gonna be closed by the time you get your butt over here!” Protea teased. Sigma growled, tightening her grip on her needle and throwing it again to pull herself forward. Their mother had just started teaching them how to do it, it wasn’t her fault that she was having difficulty doing it. It also wasn’t her fault that Protea could run so fast. Damn her and her daily exercises.

“If you don’t be careful, I’m going to throw my needle directly into you. Then we’ll both miss the show.” Sigma threatened as she managed to gain some ground. Gods, Protea was so fast. If she wasn’t wasting her life on being a guard, she could be an amazing hunter. But if she wasn’t being a guard, she wouldn’t be this fast. She couldn’t do both, she guesses

“You couldn’t hit me if you tried!” Protea taunted. Oh, so this is how it’s gonna go? Sigma threw her needle directly at Protea, missing only by a few feet due to her moving. 

“I could easily spear you, you dirtcarver! I’ll have you know I’ve never missed a shot with my needle before!” She growls.

“Just did, loser!” Protea teased, sticking her tongue out at her sister before breaking into a sprint before Sigma could throw her needle again. She cackles as she runs, but Sigma has a plan. She throws her needle into the ceiling right above Protea, reeling herself in far enough to swing herself, full speed, right into Protea’s back. Right before her plan is fulfilled, her needle dislodges itself from the ceiling, sending her crashing into Protea, which sends both of them into a tumble that wraps them up in silk.

“Ugh! Sigma you asshole!” Protea growls as she begins to thrash wildly in hopes of freeing herself.

“Smooth landing, princess.” A voice taunts, followed by someone else’s laughter. Sigma manages to struggle to the front of the bundle. Fuck. She just made a fool of herself in front of one of the strongest warriors in all of Hallownest, Xena the God Tamer herself (as well as Ercu, who's the champion of the Coliseum, but she doesn’t have a badass title like Xena does). Xena hooks the blade of a dagger under one of the tangled strings of silk, pulling hard and cutting it, sending both of the sisters collapsing onto the ground.

“Thanks, Xena.” Sigma mutters as she gets to her feet and brushes off the ash and dust. 

“And who might this be? You bringing your little sister to see how strong I am?” Xena asked.

“No, she’s one of my twins.” Sigma corrects. Protea manages to escape the silk and shake the ash off of her cloak. 

“Damn, how many twins you got? I feel bad for your mom.” Xena says before taking another huff on her pipe.

“So… how’s the Coliseum going? Why aren’t you in there fighting?” Sigma asked, peeking past the two girls to see that the usually packed lobby was empty.

“It was going good, but some old bug from the city shut down the entire Coliseum a few minutes ago, so no show.” Xena explained. Sigma groaned loudly in disappointment. “Sorry princess, I don’t make the rules.” She added before taking another huff on her pipe, followed by her blowing a ring of smoke at Sigma.

“And some old man showed up and you just listened to him? No arguments, no nothing?” Sigma asked as she swatted away the smoke.

“Listen, when someone shows up with a Hallownest Seal attached to their cloak and tells you to close up for today, you do it. I don’t want to fuck around with the King, and I doubt you do either. Just scramble home, I’ll buy you some tickets to tomorrow’s show.” Xena explained. Behind her, Ercu throws a large ball of ash flakes into the air, which quickly scatter in the wind. She begins gathering them again when they’ve all landed.

“I’m gonna go show this man a piece of my mind!” Sigma hisses, tightening her claws into a fist. 

“You go girl! Go beat up that old, defenseless bug!” Xena encourages. “Oh wait, before you go, babe!” She calls, getting Ercu’s attention. “Show them that little dance you showed me earlier.” Ercu nods before getting to her feet and performing a short jig, and all the while she has the most serious look in her eyes. Once she’s done, Xena applauds her, and Sigma joins in a few seconds later, leaving Protea confused. She claps with them in fear that this feral gladiator will cleave her in two.

“Keep up the good work, Ercu, see you two later!” Sigma says as she grabs Protea’s hand and drags her towards the Coliseum.

“Remember! In case that guy is, like, a government or something, you aren’t affiliated with the Coliseum in any way!” Xena yells back as they enter the building. The fool chained up at the entrance was fast asleep, but Sigma knew better than to not wake them. 

“What was all that about back there? I thought you said you’ve never been here before?” Protea asked, whispered, as to not wake up the sleeping bug in chains.

“Yeah, I lied. I’ve been here like a hundred times, but I’d be in trouble with dad if I told him that.” Sigma answered, also in a whisper.

“You didn’t even tell dad!” 

“Of course I didn’t, he wouldn’t have said yes, but I fabricated the lie just in case he asked where we were going.” Sigma pulled the gate into the pit open, holding it long enough for Protea to slip under and join her on the other side.

“Do they know you’re the princess of Hallownest?” Protea asked as Sigma silently lowered the gate.

“Of course not. They just know I’m some girl from the city with a fancy cloak.” Sigma whispers. The light from the arena shines down the dark hallway, almost blindingly bright. Sigma stopped as she got close enough to see said arena, and the lone bug inside. Protea stopped as well, peaking past Sigma. It was their father, the Pale King.

“Dad is not old! Those bastards!” Sigma hissed. Protea placed a hang over her mouth to silence her, to which Sigma promptly bit down on, causing Protea to hiss and punch her in the side. They both went silent when their father cleared his throat, finishing his endless pacing and facing the throne of the Lord Fool, which still houses the dead Wyrm’s body.

“I have been debating whether I should even come here, if it’s even worth it to talk to you again. I guess I decided too late, but that doesn’t mean I have nothing to say to you.” Their father hissed. “My dear brother! Look at all of this! It’s a mess! It’s awful! A place designed to kill my people! You came to my lands, begged me for something to call your own, and then you did this? After everything you’ve done, I forgave you, and after everything I’ve done, you’ve decided to hurt me more.” He growls, before returning to his pacing.

“Do you remember when I first started calling you my sibling? My brother? I doubt you do, I doubt you ever really cared. I accepted you with open claws, I was excited to have an older sibling, and you? You just kept acting like a leech! You pushed me and you shoved me, you stole my food and you hit me and you bit me, and, and, and even after all of that I still cared about you!” Tears were forming in his eyes, beginning to run down his face.

“And! And after all that! After all that, dear brother, I still mourn your death! I still sent a messenger as soon as I was almost killed, to warn you, in some hope of saving your life! I still spent night after night crying, because I remembered the small moments where you weren’t rotten! When I actually felt like your brother, and not just a bother! Because I thought to myself, I thought about how my big brother was gone! How his corpse is still lying slouched in his throne!” 

“Do you even remember me? Did you even know I was your brother? Or did you just come to leech off of someone else? Did you ever even think of me as your brother? Did you ever love me? Or were you like our parents? Did you hate me as much as they did?” He cried. “I had planned, I had a plan, to get rid of you, to drive you off of my land. And I felt bad about it, I really did, and when I received the news? It hurt me so much. I wouldn’t have actually gone through with it, you know I wouldn’t have, but that doesn’t change anything.” 

He chewed on his fingertips as he paced back and forth. “I had a gift prepared for your hatchday, I don’t know what to do with it. I sent you invitations to some of my parties. Did you receive them? Did you just ignore them or did you not remember who I was?” He asked, letting out a pathetic laugh. “Oh, I can just imagine your confusion! You keep getting letters from some nobody! Some strange bug keeps pestering you about parties.”

He sniffled, wiping his tears on his sleeves. “Gods above. Are you even still my brother? Did my brother die somewhere out there in the wastes, and his empty husk simply showed up at my door?” He asked. “Were you ever my brother? Were you just like mother and father? Did you ever care about me?” He whimpered weakly. He collapsed onto his hands and knees and cried.

“Let’s get back to the palace. This isn’t any of our business.” Sigma whispered.

“No, fuck that.” Protea said, rushing forward to her fathers aid. 

“What? What’re… what’re you two doing here?” He asked, his tail curling up under his cloak and his claws hugging closer to his body. Protea got down on her knees and pulled her smaller father into a hug. “Please let me go, I don’t deserve this comfort.” The Wyrm whimpered. Sigma’s internalized need to make her father unhappy triggered at hearing that, so she walked forward and joined the hug.

The hugs didn’t stop the Pale King from bawling his eyes out, but it helped him get it out. It would be a long time before the family went home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How could I include the Coliseum and not include God Tamer and Pale Lurker?


	11. Pride of the Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sigma fails her first major hunt. She is not the only Weaver to fail a hunt on that evening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sorry about what previously was chapter 11. I understand if that has made you no longer want to read this fic, but I promise that I will try harder in the future to be more careful on such topics. I am so incredibly sorry

She traveled through the air, using her needle and silk to quickly take her from place to place. She was getting bigger with every day, and her last molt had officially made her taller than her father (something she bragged about, of course).

It was hunting season, and the first major hunt she would be taking place in. Yeah, she’s hunted small game before. Dirtcarvers, Carver Hatchers, Corpse Creepers, even Mimics! And all that in only Deepnest. But none of them would even come close to the spoils of her next hunt. She was going to catch one of the wandering beasts that roamed close to Deepnest in this season, and this season only. She reeled herself in and hid behind a pile of rocks, gazing out across the large cavern before her. She couldn’t go too far, she knew that much, and she had been warned to retreat immediately if she heard the chimes of bells.

The beast she wanted to catch sometimes walked through canyons like this, with their long, spindly legs. Their tribe called them Quartecs, named after the last Weaver settlement (which was trampled and destroyed by, you guessed it, a herd of Quartecs). She watched the crack that brought in dim sunlight, waiting for their legs, knowing that one would, eventually, attempt to cross the large, open tunnel. This was the most dangerous place she had ever been to, but if she could catch one of these beasts, her mother would be so proud. 

And then the main problem of this hunting spot showed itself. A large Tunneler attempted to cross. For a second, she thought about going in for the kill and bringing back this beast. It was certainly of impressive size. Her idea was shattered when a large claw dove through the overhead opening and wrapped around the beast, yanking it out of the tunnel. Well fuck. If a Great Beast was guarding this crack, then there would be no safe way to get a kill. She needed to move elsewhere. Carefully, and as silent as she could, she moved away from the crack, ignoring as a large chunk of shell was dropped into the crack, a large portion of meat still on it. Stealing game from a larger hunter was pathetic, not to mention that the meat was probably contaminated now that it’s been in contact with the Beast

She moved quickly through the tunnels, searching for another ravine or crack in the ground that would allow Beasts to migrate through. Thankfully, another one wasn’t too far, so she once again hid behind a pile of debris and waited. She waited for at least an hour, and nothing of interest crossed. Occasionally, a group of Dirtcarvers would pass, and at one point she saw a Grubberfly. Her eyelids grew heavy. What a fool she was, getting tired in such a dangerous place. At least she was safe here.

Her rest was ruined when another Tunneler crashed through the wall, sending shards of rock and shell flying in all directions. It must’ve picked up on her scent. She barely managed to dodge the debris, but this also brought her into the Beast’s line of sight. It let out a growl and charged at her. She jumped to the side, and a moment later it’s tough, shell-covered skull slammed into the wall. She took the chance to jump upon its back, driving her nail into the back of its head in an attempt to temporarily paralyze it.

It began struggling, tossing and turning and attempting to throw her off. She managed to loop a string of silk around its neck, keeping herself grounded on its back. With one last slam of her body, she drove her needle through one of its spines, causing it to turn rigid and momentarily go unconscious. She slipped off of the Beast’s back, catching her breath as the creature behind her twitched and squirmed it’s tail in an attempt to wake up the rest of its body. Now for the next step of the hunt, wrapping up prey. It was important that she keep it alive, so that it’s meat wouldn’t rot before it was eaten.

Looking over her silk supply, she cursed. She had used too much silk when traveling, there was no way she would be able to wrap it enough to keep it from escaping when it reawoke. But… if she didn’t bring it back alive, she wouldn’t be counted in the successful hunt. She curses at her eagerness, at her impatience, at her disability, her inability to produce silk. She climbs back atop the Beast and yanks the needle toward her, severing the Tunneler’s second spine. A few moments later, the Beast’s labored breathing comes to a stop, and she collapses against it and cries. Even if she had found a Quartec, she wouldn’t have been able to succeed. She was doomed from the start, cursed with a disadvantage. She doesn’t even need to go home to know she’s failed, but she still must return and disappoint her mother. 

——

The Weaver Princess, or at least one of them, the only one to follow the tribe's tradition, is gawked at as she drags a large, dead beast, at least ten times her size, through the village. With the last of her silk, she manages to pull it up to the platform that her and her family's house lies upon. Herrah is not there, maybe she heard that Sigma had failed and decided to not be here when she returned. Sigma curls up and cries, soaking her already hemolymph-stained cloak. She digs her claws into the sides of her legs and pulls them as close to her as possible.

“Sigma? What’re you doing back so early? Are you okay?” Herrah asks, voice sincere and worried. Sigma looks up from where her face was pressed.

“I’m sorry, mother. I’ve failed you.” She cries. “I couldn’t do it, I— I can’t…” 

“What can’t you do? What’s wrong?” Her mother asks.

“I couldn’t wrap my kill, I can’t produce silk. My spinners don’t work. I’ve failed the tribe, I have nothing to bring to the feast.” She cries. Herrah gathers her daughter in her arms and hugs her tightly.

“For how long have they not worked?” She asks as she rubs Sigma’s back, in hopes of comforting her child.

“I don’t know, they just… stopped working. I’ve been stealing silk… I’m so sorry. I failed the hunt, I’ve failed our traditions.” Sigma explains.

“My daughter, it’s okay. I didn’t succeed on my first hunt, and neither did the late King of Deepnest. Even if you cannot spin silk, you are still a Weaver, you are still capable of so much.” Herrah cooes. Sigma wraps her arms around her mother’s neck and hugs tightly. 

“But… but I’m a freak. I can’t do anything, I didn’t get any part of you or dad. What am I? Why didn’t I get spinners? Why didn’t I get wings?” She cries

“You aren’t a freak, you’re just like everyone else in the village. There are plenty of Weavers who can’t produce silk, you not being able to make silk doesn’t make you any less a member of the tribe. You did good, so so good. Look at the Beast you’ve brought back. I’m still impressed, even if you couldn’t wrap it.” She says.

“You are? I didn’t disappoint you?” Sigma asks, wiping the tears from her face. 

“Of course I’m not disappointed, I’m proud! You went so far and brought back a beast worthy of a feast!” Herrah says, a large smile across her face, showing off her fangs. She rubs the tears and hemolymph off of her daughters face with her claws. “It won’t last until the feast, but would you like to help me prepare it for a meal tonight?” She asked. Sigma nodded, smiling and wiping the remainder of the tears off her face.

“Yes ma’am. I would love to. Just… give me a moment. I need to take a bath.” Her daughter says, before jumping down from their platform and heading to the hot spring. Herrah smiled proudly as she grabbed the Beast and began cutting it so she could bring it through the door.

——

Her bath was short, she just needed to get the sweat and blood off of her, and as soon as she finished with that she felt refreshed and ready to help her mom prepare the large dinner that her beast would produce. The heat from the spring makes her light headed, and she quickly slips on her cloak the moment she’s dried herself off.

From the shadows, a Weaver spies on her, a spear held tightly in their claws. They had one chance at this, and if they messed it up they were dead. They jumped out of cover when she turned her back on them. The princess didn’t even see it coming. Their spear pierced her back, the tip of the weapon visible from Sigma’s front side. She let out a scream of pain that was surely audible throughout all of Deepnest. They would have to hurry and end her before the Queen came to stop them.

Sigma managed to pull herself off of the weapon embedded in her lower stomach, falling to the floor and reaching for her needle in an attempt to fight back. The Weaver stabbed her hand before she could even grab her nail, much less get to her feet, severing one of her fingers and causing her to let out another wail of pain. They grabbed her nail and threw it into the hot spring, far away from the both of them. The princess was crying now, trying her best to crawl away like the pathetic imposter she was. Or perhaps they were wrong, usually a Nosk would forfeit its form when it was realized, but the girl instead clutched at her chest and tried to save herself. No matter, they had already gone too far, they needed to finish the job.

They approached her, placing a leg on her back to keep her still, and raised their spear above their head. Just as they were about to bring it down, the blunt end of a greatnail slammed into their side, sending them tumbling off of the princess. Their mask and carapace were broken beyond comprehension. 

“Sigma? My daughter? Are you okay?” The Queen of Deepnest asked desperately. The mother turned her eyes to them, a blaze of fury glowing behind them, and in a moment she was across the room and mere inches away from them. “You bastard! You dare hurt my daughter?” She hissed.

“I was only doing what is best for all of Deepnest. You have not only brought the pale blood of our greatest enemy into our home, but continue to care for them even when knowing that one of your bastard children is a monstrous beast!” The would-be assassin wheezed between broken gasps of air. 

“You do not speak for any part of Deepnest, and you are a coward for turning your weapon against a young adult.” She growled, digging her claws into the sides of the Weaver’s shell and lifting them off of the ground.

“You know nothing of what Deepnest speaks. You are just like the Nosk who mimics your child, a lowly beast. You’re no better than the Nosk Queen who killed our King.” They gurgle, hemolymph bubbling out of their mouth. It’s regular, blue hemolymph, no sign of infection. With a yank, she tears the traitorous Weaver in two, dropping their body before hurrying back to her daughter, who she had placed back in the hot spring.

“Are you okay?” She asks, panic heavy in her voice.

“I’ll be fine, I’m fine. It hurts so much.” Sigma whimpers, pawing at her chest, which is rapidly healing thanks to the spring water’s magical effects. Herrah lightly hugs her child to her side. Everything’s going to be okay, she tells herself.

How many more times will she say it before she realizes it’s not true?


	12. Breaking Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is too loud, too much is happening, and Edel is not coping with any of it.
> 
> TW: suicide idealation
> 
> I would also once again like to apologize for the previous chapter 12. It was an awful mishandling of the topic and is no longer a part of this fic

The silence echoed against the empty room, to the point that her head throbbed and ached. She couldn’t focus, couldn’t keep her hands still. She twitched, dropping the small screw she was holding. It clanked loudly against the floor, shattering the silence and worsening her headache.

She yelled a curse, followed by her looking around the room. No one was in here, father hadn’t heard that. She sighed, grabbing the small screw with her shaky hands. On most days, she could do this. Usually, she could stay still, but today, she just couldn’t. She attempted to put the screw into its tiny hole once again, and just as she was about to place it, her hand twitched and messed up the alignment. She couldn’t do this. She took a deep breath, took a moment to place the screw back in its home, and take the contraption off of the table.

She had spent at least a week drawing up the blueprints for this thing, a week full of curses and frustration as her overstimulated mind failed to come up with anything meaningful. There were bags under her eyes, she was sure of it, and she was scared of leaving the workshop because the bright lights of the hallway would blind her.

She’d work on something else, for now, something simpler. One of the clocks she had kept hidden, she was excited to see its inner workings, despite having already seen every other clock in the palace. With as steady claws as she could muster, she split the back from the rest of the clock, careful not to apply pressure and break the glass. One last layer separated her from the insides of the clock, held in place by a pair of large screws.

Her screwdriver carefully twisted the screw until it was out enough that she could twist it the rest of the way with her claws. Once that was done with, she lifted the back of the clock, showing off its guts, gears, and screws. A beautiful design, and there was an even more beautiful design on the inside of the clock’s face. She carefully moved her screwdriver to one of the tiny screws that held the machinery to the face. How something so small could hold everything together, she did not know.

She took a deep breath, in hopes of keeping her hand still as she carefully pushed against the screw and began to loosen it. Her hand jerked, causing her to scrape the face of the clock with her screwdriver, a large, ugly scrape. She dropped the screwdriver and held her head in her hands for a moment.

She let out a scream of frustration, grabbing the clock and throwing it onto the floor. The fragile clock shattered into pieces. She growled, claws digging into the table. She wanted to smash this clock until it was nothing but a lump of scrap! She wanted to rip her creation to shreds! She wanted to rip herself to shreds! She wanted to be able to do anything right! But instead, her hands shook and her eyes stung and her head throbbed and everything made so much noise that she felt like she was going to throw up. She slammed her head into the heavy, metal table, and instantly regretted it.

There was a loud crack, and when she lifted her head she was horrified to see pieces of her mask still on the table, as well as a screw facing upward, right where her face landed. She can’t breathe, she can’t breathe, her face is stinging and it hurts so bad. Her vision swims and she knows she’s on the verge of passing out.

Just breath, she told herself, even though she is still struggling to stop hyperventilating. She just needed to take a break from work, only a few minutes, then she’d be back. Her hands would work then, everything would be okay, and surely she was just hallucinating, there was no way she had broken her mask. She brushed her hands off before using them to smooth out the wrinkles in her cloak, ignoring the feeling of hemolymph pooling in her eye. This room felt almost suffocating, to the point that she was sure she was going to pass out. She grabbed a towel covered in oil and grease, washing it off in a sink across the room, before pressing it against her eye, to keep her blood from dripping onto her cloak.

She strode through the halls. It was completely quiet, no sounds, not even the sounds of her footsteps. This was good. This was what she needed. Not a box but a large tunnel. Sounds could move here, but they chose not to. She wore no shoes on most days, because shoes clicked and clacked and were far too loud. For one of her hatchdays, Lurien had given her these things called “socks”. They silenced her feet and felt comfortable, but certain types itched her feet to the point that it was unbearable.

She was snapped out of her thoughts, and her ears began to ring, something just shattered in one of the nearby rooms. She pressed her claws into her ears and grit her teeth as she approached the source of the sound. Protea was trying to catch Lance, who was atop a bookshelf.

“Lance! Return your stolen goods!” Protea demand. Lance hissed at her, hugging the bundle of food closer to her chest. Ever since the Mantis Tribe barred her from seeing her girlfriend, she had started being increasingly strict with her sisters, most likely to vent her anger and frustrations, which was slowly driving her sisters away from her.

“I’m hungry! I’ll not give it back!” Lance says, shoving another vase off of the bookshelf. Protea barely managed to jump out the way before the vase loudly smashed against the floor. The sound makes Edel wince, and her head throbs, and her wound stings

“Dad’s gonna be super mad! And Ogrim’s gonna kick your butt!” Protea threatened. 

“Dad can’t stop me! And Ogrim smells! He can’t stop me either!” Lance answered. Perhaps realizing that she’s cornered on top of a bookshelf, she tears open the bundle with one of her claws and begins stuffing the scraps of meat into her mouth.

“That’s so gross! You shouldn’t eat like that! No one else does that!” Protea said.

“I’m not like everyone else! I’m hungry!” Lance growled, bits of food flying out of her open mouth as she shoved more in.

“That doesn’t even make sense! And you ate earlier! You even got double dessert!” Protea argued. They kept getting louder and louder, yelling at each other.

Gods, they’re so loud! She stuffs her claws in her ears in an attempt to plug them, and quickly walks away, as fast as she can. She needs to get as far away from everything as possible. She needs silence.

——

The room is silent, save for the breathing of the three sisters and one, large vessel. Hollow laid like a board, with Lance curled up under one of their arms. Protea is lying sprawled across Hollow’s chest, and Sigma is awake, she isn’t quite sure why. Edel is somewhere, but she isn’t here. While it’s not normal for her to not come to the nest at night, Sigma understands. She’s obviously going through something right now, everyone is. Edel’s gone from the Soul Sanctum to the death of Kieza’s daughter to her sister almost getting assassinated, all in such a short time. Sigma can only imagine how overwhelmed she must feel right now.

There’s a click at the door, and Sigma’s eyes shoot open. Light begins to pour into the room, and standing in the doorway is Edel, though her features are currently indiscernible. “Edel.” She hisses. “What’re you doing awake this late?”

“Sigma?” She asks, like she can’t see her. “I think I’ve messed up. I think I’ve messed up real bad.” Edel whimpers. Worry strikes through her and in a moment she’s scrambled to her feet and to the door. 

“What’s wrong?” She asks. Edel steps out into the hallway, and the light washes over her. Her mask is cracked, a web-like break running up her face. Her eye is barely visible beneath all of the hemolymph, which leaks from the wound and onto her cloak. Now that she can see her, Edel’s entire front is covered in blood. There are visible tear tracks on her mask, and large bags under her eyes. “Oh gods, Edel, are you okay?”

“I think so. I’m so sorry, I was contemplating… I was fantasizing about… doing something awful. I’m so sorry.” She explained, rubbing at the crack running up and down her face.

“What?” Sigma asks, confused. She rubs the rest of the sleep out of her eyes.

“I was… I was planning on killing myself, but I knew that was wrong, I knew I needed to talk to someone about it. I’m sorry… I… I think I’m going through a crisis right now.” Edel explains.

“Why didn’t you come to me sooner? You know you can always talk to me.” 

“I’m sorry. I… I didn’t want to bother anyone. I’m so sorry.” Tears are starting to swell in Edel’s intact eye.

“Edel, you know you aren’t bothering us. We love you, I love you, you’re my sister.” Sigma says. The tears are rolling down Edel’s face now, and she’s taking in ragged breaths. “Can you see me? Out of your right eye?” She asks.

“I can’t, I can’t see out of that eye anymore. Oh, gods, mom is going to be so mad. I can’t hunt like this, what am I going to do when she makes us hunt?” Edel asks, spiraling down into another panic attack. Sigma places her hands on Edel's shoulders, to ground her, to let her know she's not alone.

“Edel, please calm down and listen to me. Mom isn’t going to be mad, she’ll understand. When was the last time you took a break? In general? When was the last time you slept?” She asks. Edel seems to shrink up even more at these questions.

“I’ve been very busy lately, I haven’t had the time to take breaks. I have an exam with Monomon coming up soon, and I need to help Charlie with his homework tomorrow, and I need to finish my invention and I need to help dad with his--” Sigma cuts her off by pulling her into a hug. 

“Please, Edel, stop overworking yourself. I know how it feels to have so much to hold up, but it’s not healthy. We’re just kids, and you shouldn’t be treating yourself like this.” 

“But… but dads gonna… and Charlie needs my help… and my entire future depends on these exams…” Edel wheezes out between sobs.

“No, listen to me Edel, you aren’t listening to anything I’m saying. Dad isn’t going to be upset, you can take the exams at a later date, Charlie can go to tutoring. You need a break, okay?” 

“Okay, okay. I… I will. I will. I’m sorry for even thinking about doing it.” Edel says, tightening the hug and smearing hemolymph on Sigma’s cloak.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re safe, I’m safe, everyone is safe. I promise.” She hugged her sister, rubbing circles on her back to ease the tension in her shoulders. Eventually, they parted from the hug.

“What about my mask? It’s broken, I've ruined it.” Edel says as she wipes away the tears strolling down her face.

“It’s not ruined, nor is it broken. It’s just cracked. This crack might be here, you might be bleeding... but you're still here and you are still wanted here. And as long as you are here, you can still heal. Even scars can fade.” Sigma says.

“Thank you. Thanks for calming me down. I’m sorry about your cloak.” Edel apologizes. Sigma smiles, taking up Edel’s hand to comfort her.

“No need to thank me, that’s what sisters do, but we should probably get you to a doctor, like, right now.”


	13. The Great Knights (and Protea!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isma looks for Ogrim while reflecting on the current state of the Great Knights. Ogrim, as always, continues to be Protea's second dad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how about a little bit of fluff in these angsty times?

After another long day of training with the Hollow Knight, training with her fellow knights, training with Protea, and doing her rounds around the palace, Isma was ready to retire and get some relaxation. The armory, as always, is empty and silent. The only time someone else spends time in this room is when Xero comes back from his eternal station at the edge of the Kingdom. Even then, he rarely talks. Sometimes he’ll tell of his experiences in the ashen cliffs, sometimes he slips up and gives hints of what exactly he’s guarding.

Isma unclasps the clasps of her armor, hanging it up on her portion of the armory racks. She takes a glance across the room at Xero’s dusty corner. She likes not to think of him, it’s best not to, to keep up morale and the such. She takes a quick trip to the showers to wash away the sweat and hemolymph, before drying off and putting on her white and green cloak. She takes a short moment to quickly polish her armor and her nails before heading out into the palace, destination: wherever Ogrim is. With how stressful these times are becoming, they haven’t gotten many chances to speak to each other, and she’s missed him very much.

The Great Knights have been becoming more and more distant over these past few months. Ze’mere has been sneaking out much more often, to the point that she’s been missing training. Isma worries for her, especially with how strained the relations between Hallownest and the Mantises are becoming. Hopefully, her relationship with the daughter of Kieza manages to stay on the down-low. If the Mantis Lords found out that Kieza’s daughter was dating an outsider, the consequences could be disastrous.

Xero is, well, he hasn’t returned in months upon months, and honestly? Isma has been worrying for him the most. The last time she saw him, he was suffering from a headache, and he was only here for a day. Since then, he hasn’t replied to any of the letters they’ve sent him, and since he’s the only bug at the outpost, there’s no one else to send for. She needs to visit him soon, if only to make sure he’s still alive, but also to provide him some much-needed company.

Dryya has been spending most of her time by the Queen’s side. She doesn’t even attend training anymore, she trains in front of the Queen. The assassination attempts have put her on edge, and Isma knows that if someone were to scare her, they would be cut in two before she even realized they weren’t a threat. She hasn’t seen Dryya without her armor on in, what, months? Almost a year at this point? She wouldn’t be surprised if Dryya had become one with her shell.

Ogrim is doing his best as always. He still tells his many stories, maybe in some hope that it will get Ze’mere to start telling her stories again. He tells tales of his time before Hallownest, of his treks through the Wastes, and of his expansive family, a family so large that he didn’t know every member. He still tells his awful jokes, he still trains Protea at every chance he gets, he still acts like a dad to everyone he can. The other day, he managed to gather all five of the Great Knights (excluding Xero, of course) to watch him attempt to do a double backflip. Surprisingly, he managed to complete one of the two backflips. He then landed on his face. That increased morale, if only by a bit. 

The Hollow Knight, who could probably be a Great Knight if it wasn’t destined to die, has been spending much more time with its half-sisters. More often than not, it is accompanied by at least one of them, and it always guards their room at night in some way or another. She would never question her sire, but sometimes she does question it, if it isn’t truly hollow, if there was somehow some mistake in the choosing of this vessel. It almost seems to be getting tired, its swings are lazier, its jumps are lower, its dashes are slower. She questions if it could be degrading somehow. Either way, this degradation has been making everyone sick. Dryya is the least affected, but it is not clear why, especially when Ze’mere is the least to be in contact with the vessel. Ogrim, on the other hand, suffers from daily bouts of coughs and, only a week ago, he had to retire early due to a high fever. The King requested that they all take a break from their duties while he searches for a cure to what is ailing him, but the Knights unanimously decided to ignore his request.

Hegemol, well, he’s been spending much more time outside of his armor. It tickles her when she remembers how small the fly actually is, whenever she sees him with his pupils, and how he barely comes up to their waists even though they aren’t fully grown yet. She often wondered about his mighty suit of armor, a suit so secure that almost no weapon could pierce it, and yet he occupied not even a tenth of the suit. It seems she isn’t the only one to be curious of its nature, as Edel had many times attempted to steal the suit to examine it. Sigma, on the other hand, had attempted to steal the suit so she could pilot it. Even though he wasn’t even half their height, he still always managed to stop them. No matter his size, he wields his weapons with deadly precision, whether he’s carrying a mace or a greatnail. Once, he had managed to take on both Ogrim and Ze’mere at the same time while fighting with nothing but a mantis claw. But even him, with his jokes and humor, had begun to grow distant. He spent more and more time outside of his suit of armor, and now that his students had departed from him to begin learning on their own, she worried that the isolation he was now putting on himself would drive him mad.

She returns to the training yard, to think to herself, and to check if Ogrim has remained behind. The room is deathly quiet, save for distant snores. She approaches the sound, only to find Ogrim asleep, with Protea, snuggled up to his side. She smiles, thinking back to when Ogrim had told her that, if they ever are to have a child, he hopes the child is like Protea. Whenever Protea enters the same room as him, Ogrim instantly enters dad mode, making awful jokes and being overprotective. It’s plain that he loves the girl as if she were his own child. And honestly? Isma is pretty sure that everyone in the palace has adopted the young Knight. She’s lively, easily excitable, and is just a lovely person to be around. And when she was younger? She was extremely adorable, especially when she learned to mimic everyone’s battle cries, and when she had attempted to duel Dryya with a greatnail three times her size. Surprisingly, the girl had managed to swing it a few times before tiring herself out. 

She takes a step closer to Ogrim and gently taps on his shoulder, and a few moments later, the Dung Beetle awakens. “Good morning sleepyhead.” She teases. A smile grows across his face and he wipes the sleep out of his eyes.

“I’m very sorry, I must’ve fallen asleep at some point.” He mutters before realizing that Protea is snuggled up like a grub on his chest. His smile only widens, and he carefully lifts Protea. “And Dryya says I’m not dad material!” He exclaims in a whisper. There’s a sense of pride in his voice that makes her heart flutter. “Uh, Isma? Can you get the door for me?” He asks, snapping her out of her thoughts once again. She rushes to the door and pulls it open, allowing the beetle to get through. They make small talk as they walk through the halls, which are, as usual, empty. Every day, more and more of the retainers quit or stop coming to work, likely due to the worsening infection. At least it keeps the halls quiet, she thinks to herself. 

Finally, the pair arrives at the children’s nestroom, and Ogrim carefully pushes the door open with his shoulder. He tiptoes across the room, knowing that Edel has already gone to bed and is likely already snuggled up in the nest, and he carefully lays Protea down and quickly wraps her in blankets. Then he begins the careful trek back, watching his every step in case he steps on something loud or slips on a misplaced toy. Thankfully, he manages to reunite with Isma before too long, and then the door to the children’s room is closed. 

“Sorry, Protea said she wanted to take a nap, and I guess I fell asleep as well while protecting her.” He says with a chuckle.

“No worries, it’s good to take rests, no matter how short they are,” Isma says, taking Ogrim’s claw in her hands. “Are you still up for our date tonight?” She asks, and Ogrim’s smile once again goes wide, and a subtle blush covers his face.

“Of course, that is if you still want to.” He says. He’s adorable, she can’t handle it, She laughs and tightens her grip on his claw before practically dragging him down the hallway toward the kitchen. They can’t truly leave the palace on days like these, but their date still occurs, as they set up a small table in the corner of the room and eat dinner together. Isma wishes this peacefulness could last forever, but knowing the chaotic nature of the four sisters? The peace will likely last only a few moments. Still, it’s nice while it lasts.


	14. Hunger Pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance wakes up to an extreme, painful hunger. This isn’t new, and it only seems to be getting worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re back in ouch territory. A little bit of cannibalism here, so if that disturbs you, don’t read this chapter.

She awoke, as she usually did, to an intense pang of hunger. Her stomach growled at her, forcing her to get out of bed. Her sisters and large sibling still slept comfortably. Comfortable while she struggled to even stay conscious. She silently crept across the room, carefully unlocking the door and slipping outside. Now she was in the hallway, and her hunger simply got worse.

Maybe she could…? Maybe she could just go eat a bit from the kitchen, and that would satiate her for now. Of course, the chef should be up by now, preparing breakfast for the lot of them. She could just steal some food, and if she was still hungry after dinner, she could steal more food later. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, before stretching the aches out of her joints. Her right arm popped in an uncomfortable way, and she reminded herself to not do that again.

Lance quickly made her way down the halls, walking past her father’s and step-mother’s room and heading straight for the kitchen. Her footsteps light, almost silent. The lumaflies of the kitchen were awake, their gentle glow helping wake her up fully. The cooks must be up. Good, good, someone can make some food for her. She needed to eat, she was so hungry. When was the last time she ate? It felt like months, but she knew it had only been a few hours. She scratched at her stomach, hungrily thinking of the meal she had eaten before bed last night.

Keeping up her stature as best she could, she walked into the kitchen. A lone chef was preparing the honey rolls that Sigma loved so dearly. She hoped her sister wouldn’t mind if some of them were missing. No, she couldn’t lie. Most of them would be missing if Lance got her hands on them. She just hoped that Sigma wouldn’t question her about it. “Ah! Princess Lance! I didn’t expect to see you up so early! Is something wrong?” The chef asked. 

“No, no, nothing wrong, but I am rather hungry.” She answers. She can smell the sweetness radiating off of him, the smell of honey, flour, meat, vegetables. For only a moment, she thinks of what common bugs taste like, and then she snaps herself out of her dark thoughts.

“Well, you’re in luck! I just finished a batch of breakfast if you’d like some!” He said, offering out a plate. She nodded, taking the plate out of the chef’s hand and sitting down at the counter. The moment he looked away, she quickly stuffed the food in her mouth, barely caring to chew, just needing to eat now. Before she knew it, her plate was empty. Her stomach rumbled again.

Gods dammit! It didn’t help, she was still so hungry. Her stomach twisted and growled like a beast, urging her to eat more. More more more, that was all she could ever think about. She almost doubled over in pain, barely managing to keep herself upright. Thankfully, the chef didn’t notice her very apparent pain.

She pushed the plate across the counter and left the kitchen in a haste. She needed something more, something meaty and juicy. She moved quickly towards where she knew the freezer was. Surely, no one would mind if she had a quick snack and ate a few of the delectable corpses strung up in there. 

She looked both ways down the hallway before pushing her way inside. These… these were fresh. She had to pull herself up one of the hanging meats, cutting away at the rope with one of her claws. With a snap, the meat collapsed to the floor. Her fangs quickly emerged, and she hungrily began to bite into the large Boofly corpse. It tasted so good, so so fucking good. There was something about fresh meat that she just couldn’t get from the food they prepared in the kitchen. It made her entire body tingle in an almost pleasant way, and she was sure she would enjoy the feeling if it wasn’t for her body constantly screaming at her to eat more.

She felt reinvigorated, her stomach no longer ached and she would be able to last a few more hours. She needed to find a more careful source, perhaps she could request to spend more time with her mother, so she could hunt. She thought of the crawlers in the Ancient Basin. Perhaps she could convince her father to let her hunt here. Maybe if she asked her mother that she wanted to hunt, she would take her with her, back to Deepnest, with or without her father’s permission. Her stomach rumbled at the very thought of being able to hunt fresh meat.

She wrapped up the remainder of the meat, shoving it under her cloak and slipping back out of the freezer. She hurried back to her sibling’s room, silently opening the door and creeping across the room toward Edel’s secret cubby. She pressed against the secret door, opening the hidden closet filled with journals. Pushing them aside, she placed the bundle of meat inside before closing it and climbing back into the nest with her sisters and sibling. Sleep eventually came, and she awoke and ate breakfast, and then she hurried back to the room to eat the scraps of meat.

This was her daily morning schedule, and had been since her hunger had become worse. And it continued to get worse and worse and worse. She wondered why, why she’s suffering like this, every time she wakes from hunger pains, which is only occurring more and more frequently.

——

She awoke again, wracked by pain as her stomach growled and rumbled. She clutched at it as she pulled herself out of bed. This time was worse than the others, so much worse. She genuinely felt like she was going to die. Her stomach throbbed as she crawled out of bed and towards the door. She could barely get herself to her feet, only managing to get up by clinging to the doorknob and dragging herself up. There was a painful sounding snap in her right arm, but she ignored it, pulling the door open and stumbling out into the hallway.

The lumaflies were awake, which meant the chef was awake as well. Her mouth watered at the thought of what they might taste like. She imagined herself walking into the kitchen and tackling the cook, biting his throat out and feasting on the delicious organs and flesh that she knew he had. She wished she had entered the kitchen, she wished she had murdered that chef and feasted on his flesh. Instead, her morality got the better of her and she ended up back in the meat freezer. This time, however, there was no meat, no nothing to sate her hunger. She clutched at her stomach and let out a pained sob.

She got an awful idea, then. She brought her hand up to her right shoulder, pressing down on the plates. They sank into the depression that had become her shoulder, like how the skin of a rotten apple collapsed under the smallest amount of pressure. She pressed harder, sinking her claws into the shell. A rotten liquid leaked out, and with a yank the shell split. Surprisingly, despite the fact that she could see the inside of her arm, it didn’t hurt. It just felt cold, so cold.

Cold, black, sludge-like liquid oozed from her opened joint, dripping down her arm like paint. She pulled a bit harder, and the rotting chitin snapped, and her arm collapsed to the ground. She should be panicking, or vomiting, or feeling anything, but instead, her hunger overcame her. She grabbed her arm and dug her fangs into her own flesh. The black sludge infecting her body diluted the taste of herself, but besides that, it soothed her stomach. Her body tingled and she coughed up a bit of black, rubbing it on her cloak and beginning her trek back to her room. 

She didn’t even make it halfway there before she passed out from the steady blood loss that losing an arm brings.

——

When she eventually came back to consciousness, she was in her nestroom. Her sisters were not here, likely running about somewhere else. Distantly, she thought about how it didn't surprise her that her sisters weren’t here for her. Where her arm once was is now bandaged up, stained blue and black from the fluids leaking out of her wound. A bright light near the corner of the room let her know that her father was here. He noticed her waking almost immediately.

“Lance?” He asked, pain in his voice. He got up from his chair, his light dimming down to a weak glow barely above a lunaflies.

“I’m sorry.” She croaks out, rubbing uncomfortably at her nub.

“What?” He asked, concern quickly turning to confusion.

“I was so hungry, I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t want to hurt anyone.” She explains.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone what was happening?” He asked. He felt betrayed, it was evident enough in his posture and voice.

“Everyone already thinks so little of me. I didn’t want to make them think less.” She explains, her voice little more than a murmur. “At best they see me as a statue, and at worst they are scared of me. I don’t want to scare them more but I’m just so hungry and it won’t stop.” 

Her father kneeled on the nest across from her. “But you know your sisters do not think that, you know I do not.” He said. He was lying, her sisters didn’t care about her, and her father certainly didn’t, because he was willing to take away the best part of her life. She wanted to cry, to curl up and die under the blankets because dealing with whatever has been happening to her is much worse.

“I’m sorry.” She sobs, tears running down her face. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“It’s void poisoning, I think. It’s eating up everything it can, and once it eats through everything you’ve eaten, it starts eating through you. I’m so sorry that I didn’t realize what was happening sooner. I can only assume it is because of your proximity to the Pure Vessel.” Her father explains.

“Please, it’s not Holly’s fault. Don’t punish them.” She cried.

“What? Who’s Holly?” He asked. There’s a long moment of neither of them talking, as Lance cried and pulled the blankets of the nest over her. “Is… is the Pure Vessel Holly?” He asks. He sounds almost hopeful, but at the same time he sounds defeated. She nodded silently.

“I’m sorry. Please don’t take them away, please.” She sobs.

“I wish I had a choice, but I cannot risk more lives. The infection has not been as extreme lately, but when it does spike, I must do what I have promised to. I am sorry, I am so dearly sorry.” He explains. He looks sad, but it’s hard for her to feel bad for him when it is completely his choice to do what must be done. She doesn’t care how selfish it is, she can’t lose her sibling. She can’t lose Holly.

“I need you to spend some time away from Holly, only a few days, so I can know the extent of the poisoning. I suspect that you aren’t the only victim of this, and I want to keep all of you safe.” He requests, practically begs. She shakes her head. 

“I don’t care if they kill me, I want to spend what remaining time I have with my sibling.” She says, before getting up to her feet and walking out of the room. It hurts, it hurts so much, to leave her father alone when he is so obviously in despair, but for now she does not care. If he is right about the void poisoning, then she surely doesn’t have much time left. She’ll spend every moment she has with her sibling.

Even if it kills her.


	15. Spare Rooms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edel is once again overstimulated, and decides to take refuge in the secret rooms of the Palace. Turns out someone else has already beaten her there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea of secret spare rooms used by PK to escape for a while was created by Murderbirb, as was the idea of Edel running into him while sneaking through said spare rooms.

Things were too loud right now. Her stepmother had invited the Dreamers over for tea, and of course, all of them had accepted. Even Quirrel had come, but Edel suspects that was less for tea and more because he wanted to see Oro, who had also arrived on the exact same day that Quirrel had, as he always does. Were they dating? She couldn’t say. Was it a bit suspicious that they always seemed to gravitate to private rooms when they’re in the same building as each other? A little, but it was their private business. If she really wanted to know, she’d just get Sigma to spy on them when Oro took Quirrel off to somewhere that wasn’t the training field to “teach him nailarts” for the one-hundredth time.

Charlie couldn’t come over today, so she was on her own, and thanks to everyone being so loud, she needed to take a break. Thankfully, she knows just the place. Long ago, when she was small, she and Sigma discovered a small hole in a high-up wall, obscured by a shelf where an unused candle stood. While this hole in itself was a good place to take refuge, what was better was where it led to. 

Throughout the palace, there were hundreds of rooms that either had no doors, or had doors that could be unlocked from the inside only, and all of them were connected via tunnels, one of the entrances being this hole in the wall. One room, for example, held only three stacks of playing cards. Another, one she had commandeered, was completely empty save for a stool. She has a music box in that room, and when everything becomes too loud, she sneaks through the secret tunnels of the White Palace and twists the crank of her music box in the sound-proofed room. No one can hear her and she can hear no one. It’s perfect, it really is.

That was her destination, though she had explored pretty much every one of these secrets rooms at this point. She and Sigma called them “spare rooms” because no one used them. Another room was filled with toys, a bed, scattered clothes, and a lot of old, dusty webs. Another was filled with sand. She hated that room. One room was divided in two by a mirror. Another room had a large, dusty suit of armor, with something dark swimming around it. She had never once dared to enter that room. Another room, one of the rooms she had to pass through to get to her sanctuary, had a small bed, a closet full of cloaks, a nailstand, and a single toy stuffed under the bed, a stuffed tiktik surrounded by blankets and hidden for no eyes to see. She often found herself returning to it, a thousand questions on her mind. Whose room was this? Why did they hide their toy? Why did they have a nailstand? They weren’t sure, but on this fateful day, they found their father in this room, crying to himself.

She peeked into the room, only to see him on his knees, his hands against his face, tears streaming down his chin and onto his cloak. It’s none of her business, and she probably should just keep going. If her father wants this room to be locked, then she should respect that. Unfortunately, she’s too nosey for her own good, and she ends up slinking down the wall to where her father mourns.

“Dad?” She asks, and he lifts his head from his hands. 

“Edel? What’re you doing here? How did you get in?” He asked. He sounds so defeated, so devastated. On his lap is the stuffed tiktik, and wrapped around him like a cloak is the blanket used to hide it.

“There’s a tunnel system through the ceiling. I use it to get around.” She explains. He nods in understanding before wiping the swelling tears from his eyes. “Are you okay?” She asks.

“No. I don’t think I am.” He says.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” She asks as she approaches him. He lets out a long, pained sigh.

“I’m sad to say that I lied to you. The room you and your sisters reside in was never the Hollow Knight’s room. This was where they stayed, before we realized that they did not require sleep.” He explains. “When they were first brought out of the Abyss, your mother had been so sad that she could not baby them, could not treat them like the child she always wanted. And, deep down, I suppose I was sad as well. Looking back on this room, I wonder how cruel I was to do this to them.” 

Them, it suddenly strikes her. Her father is referring to Holly as a “them” and not an “it”.

“I’m so sorry that I’ve set you and your sisters on a path to devastation. I’m sorry that I’m destined to hurt you so much. I didn’t know that you and your sisters had developed a relationship with the Hollow Knight, and surely you all must know their fate by now. I didn’t want to do this, I didn’t want to do any of this.” He cries. “And now I don’t know what to do, this plan that I have engineered is the only way to save my people, and yet it is almost as cruel as the very plague it aims to destroy, and I cannot go through with it with the knowledge that the Hollow Knight is not truly hollow.” Tears are streaming down his face again, and he digs his claws into the sides of his head.

“Did you know then? That they weren’t hollow?” Edel asks, and her father looks on the verge of tears, on the verge of passing out and collapsing.

“I did. Gods I did, I knew it from the moment I first laid them in bed and they tried to get comfortable. I knew when I found a toy under their bed, and when I realized they knew how to count despite never being taught how to. And it hurts, it truly does, that I know this. I wish I didn’t. I wish I could just forget they existed and send them to the Black Vault so that I can at least buy myself more time, and I know how unimaginably cruel that is, but I’ve already been so cruel, and I can’t risk losing what little family I have left. But I can’t. I can’t do it.” He cries.

“I’ve done these awful things and yet I can’t finish the deed. I can’t bring myself to seal the infection. In his final days, Lurien has become one of my closest friends, and even if I have not developed as close of a relationship with them, I know how much Herrah and Monomon mean to you four. Does it make me a bad king to not want to go through with it? Does it at least make me a better father?” He asks.

She drops down to her knees and shuffles closer to him. “I don’t know. I am not one who knows morals or parenthood, but I can say that, at the very least, your hesitance makes you a better person.” Edel mutters. He shakes his head and hunches over the doll again. She wraps her arm around him. She can’t really tell if she feels bad for him, but she wants to, she really really does. She wouldn’t be visiting her music box tonight, someone else needed comfort more than her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how good I feel about this chapter? I've been going through some stuff lately, and as such, I didn't upload yesterday, and I feel like my upset-ness is influencing my work and making it not as good. Either way, I'll be doing my best to bring bigger and better chapters in the future :)


	16. A Lost Kin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sigma sneaks out of the palace and finds someone she shouldn’t have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry if this chapter is crap, I’m really tired right now and I’m going through a major break up. I should be becoming more consistent soon.

Sigma finished the coat of polish on her nail before putting it on its sheath on her back. She had a place to investigate today, somewhere that Ercu had pointed out to her on a map, and obviously, she had to check it out, though leaving the palace was prohibited, so she needed to be stealthy. She turned to her now-armless sister. 

“Lance! I gotta go somewhere, you okay?” She whispered. Lance pulled herself to a sitting position, wiggling her nub of an arm.

“Well, besides the lack of arm, and the sickness slowly rotting me from the inside out, I’d say I’m pretty good,” Lance answered sarcastically.

“Good good, I won’t be gone for too long, I’ll definitely be back before midnight.” She explained before sneaking to the door and slipping out. Lance groaned as she slipped back out of her sitting position. She should probably be worried about whatever stupid thing Sigma is doing, but fuck that, she’s tired.

Sigma sneaks like a snake through the halls of the palace, slipping into rooms and around corners to avoid the decreasing number of nobles and retainers who come to the palace every day. Less show up, and those who are remaining stay the night in some hope that they’ll avoid the infection by staying in the home of the King. A bunch of fools, they are, Herrah has told her everything she needs to know about the infection! The King cannot protect anyone, it is simply a matter of strength! In that regard, she worries for Charlie, even though they aren’t her friend. And what about Ercu? She isn’t the strongest head-wise, what if she becomes infected? Too much to worry about, especially when she’s sneaking out. 

She’s so distracted that she almost walks into view of Quirrel and Oro, who are currently arguing with each other.

“What do you mean you’re leaving? You said you weren’t going to be leaving for another year!” Oro growls. Sigma can practically hear the anger in his voice, the rage, the betrayal.

“Not only was that a year ago, but plans have changed. I’m so sorry my friend, but Monomon needs me to go into the Wastes.” Quirrel explains. Oro shakes his head.

“No. You aren’t leaving, you promised me you weren’t going to leave.” Oro hissed. The larger man lifted Quirrel up by his bandana and slammed him into the wall, not hard enough to hurt, but rough enough to send the message. “You told me, you told me, you promised me that you aren’t going to leave! Why did you lie to me?” 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know at the time, I truly believed I would be staying here forever, but my teacher has plans to keep Hallownest, as well as you, safe,” Quirrel explained.

“Stag shit! I didn’t ask for you to keep me safe. That’s supposed to be my job, what other use are my twenty years practicing in the way of the nail for? You aren’t leaving.” Oro said.

“I’m sorry. If it makes you feel any better, if and when I return, I will visit you immediately, I promise. I am deeply sorry for lying to you. I promise it will not be too long, I will be back before you can even tell I’m gone.” Quirrel says as he pulls Oro’s fingers off of him. “It’ll be just like when I had to study for an entire month, accept a little bit longer. I’ll come by and check on you before I leave, I promise.” He said before leaving the room, not even noticing Sigma on his way out.

The room was filled with silence for a very long time, and then the unmistakable sound of someone punching a hole directly through one of the walls of the room, followed by a beastly scream. “You gods-damned traitorous, lying pillbug!” Oro yelled. Sigma peaked into the room, seeing that Oro was now kneeling on the floor, crying while hemolymph leaked from his most-likely broken hand. She felt bad for him, but she didn’t have time to talk to a giant beetle.

She quickly snuck through the palace toward the exit of the palace, no longer distracted by the drama between the two (maybe-dating?) men. Unfortunately for her, another distraction got in her way.

“And the answer to the previous question is 17, right? So the velocity has to be 21.8 paces per second squared, correct?” Charlie asked. Edel shook her head.

“Not quite, it’s 32.9.” She corrected. Charlie looked devastated at this.

“Where did I go wrong?” Charlie muttered, dropping his pencil and slumping his head into his hands.

“Well, it looks like you used the wrong formula, for starters.” She explained, pointing at numbers on the page.

“Does this mean you’re gonna make me repeat all the formulas again?” Charlie groaned.

“Take a guess,” Edel said as she sat back down in her seat.

“No?”

“Take another guess.” Charlie sighed, completely collapsing onto the table.

“I hate math. It’s too complicated and it doesn’t do anything, and it won’t even affect me in my field.” He groaned. Suddenly, Quirrel entered the room, apparently having rushed over here right after leaving Oro to cry by himself.

“I made tea.” He said with a smile on his face.

“I don’t like tea.” Charlie groaned.

“I did not make the tea for you. This is my tea.” Quirrel explained as he took a seat.

“Then why’re you telling me?” Charlie hissed, lifting his head off of the table.

“It’s a conversation starter.” Edel interrupted.

“Well, that’s a lousy conversation starter,” Charlie grumbled, crossing his arms, visibly grumpy from having to do the math.

“Oh, is it? We are conversing, have you not noticed? Checkmate.” Quirrel said with a laugh. Charlie groaned in agony. Sigma knew his pain, the pain of math. It was awful, and she wouldn’t wish that fate upon even her greatest enemies. Okay, maybe she’d wish it upon her father, but only because it would be funny.

“I think I’m having a mid-life crisis.” The cockroach whimpered.

“Charlie, you’re only fifteen, I doubt you’re going through a mid-life crisis. It’s just physics, chill.” Edel said, hoping that that would be enough to calm him down.

“At this rate, and all of this stress, I’ll probably die at 30!” He cried.

This conversation wasn’t giving her any information, and as funny as it was to see Charlie suffer, she had a mission to go on, and a random spot on a map to explore. She crept the final distance to the exit of the palace, and out into the courtyard beyond. Checking her map, she looked around the surrounding area. It should be… somewhere this way.

She hurried down the path toward the marked point. This place was, hopefully, not just a randomly marked spot on a map. Of course, Ercu had never been to the Ancient Basin, so this spot was, most likely, absolutely nothing. But! One time! Ercu had marked a spot in the Pleasure House, and Sigma found a crystal brooch (which she returned to the songstress Marissa, of course). Sigma would never not take Ercu seriously again! Next time she might find treasure that could be hers!

She jumped over gaps, past crawlers, leaping across one particularly large pit filled with spikes, before reaching the only hallway leading to this apparent trove of treasures. A small tunnel, just barely big enough for her to fit through, but the rocks looked unstable, so the entryway might be widening over time. She squeezed through the tight tunnel, arriving in a long hallway. Just out of the corner of her eye, she saw something with a starch white mask dash further down the hallway and out of sight. 

At a glance, it looked like her and her sisters, or maybe even Holly when they were smaller. White mask, black body, so familiar yet not right. It had two horns, one longer than the other, that extended to its left and forward, with a smaller, nub-like horn protruding from the ride side of its skull. She ran after it, almost instinctively, barely noticing that this place was on the verge of collapsing. Once she got close to where it had dived, it ran out of cover, attempting to escape the much taller, quickly approaching spider. She threw her needle beside where it was heading, intending to pull herself in front of the creature. Instead, when her needle stabbed into the wall, a rock fell down from the ceiling. The small creature barely dodged it, but didn’t dodge the next rock to fall, which slammed into its head, shattering part of its mask like porcelain. 

The room was actively caving in at this point. Some distant, unfamiliar instinct kicked in that told her she needed to save this child. She yanked her needle out of the wall and pulled the thing into her arms before making a run for it. It squirmed feebly, either trying to get into her arms or trying to escape. Small hands, only slightly larger than hers when she was but a hatchling, gripped at her red cloak, smearing the nonwashable black into the cloth as it poured out of its shattered skull like how water flowed from a pitcher. She quickly shoved the child, it must be a child, through the hole, their largest horn barely fitting through, before crawling through after them. Not even a moment later, the tunnel collapsed, almost crushing her back half had she been even a moment later.

The child tried to pull themselves to their feet, but she managed to catch them before they fell back ove. “Hold on a second, I think I have some… something. I’m sure I have something, hold on.” She said, pulling them close to her to prevent them from running. The crack in their mask ran down the side of their head, and one of their hands came up to prod at their eye holes as void leaked from both of them. She had a jar of lifeblood given to her by Xena, a small amount of silk (hopefully enough for some bandages), and… that was it. Dammit. 

She unflasked the lifeblood and poured the small amount into the thing’s exposed skull, watching as the blue, crushed seeds were quickly swallowed up by the infinite darkness that dwelled within Holly’s blood, and apparently, this child’s as well. She quickly worked on weaving her remaining silk (given to her by her mother, of course. She was given a daily allowance of silk nowadays) into bandages while the child moved their head back and forth, no doubt listening to the sound their brain-blood-fluid made as it sloshed around in their open skull. 

“Okay, I’m going to need you to stay still while I wrap your head, okay? Can you do that?” She asked. The thing jumped, like it didn’t know she was there, before nodding, spilling a bit more head-fluid. “Keep your head steady, you’re spilling too much.” She added before beginning to tightly wrap their head in bandages, not even giving them a space to see out of. She made sure to layer the bandages, especially over the wound, in some hollow hope to keep more of their brain from escaping. 

“Stop shaking your head.” She ordered, holding their head still for a moment to look for any more signs of leakage. Nothing. She collapsed against the pile of debris, rubbing the sweat off her brow. The thing climber into her lap as she did with Holly, and she gently rubbed its longest horn. “Sorry for almost killing you, are you okay?” She asked. It didn’t respond, grabbing onto her cloak and pulling it around itself, shivering almost violently.

This… thing, whatever it was? Another creature like Holly, but her father had told them that Holly was the only one of its kind, so either he didn’t know there were more, or… suddenly, like a lightbulb, it clicked in her mind why her mother hated her father so much. He must’ve done something awful, and she knew. Maybe this was it? Maybe he had killed them off? He couldn’t know about them, she needed to sneak them somewhere safe. It had almost died from a simple cave-in, so there was no way she could take it back to Deepnest. She couldn’t take it to the city, or to the Archives, Monomon and Lurien were devoted to the King, they would surely tell of the small creature. Maybe… maybe she could send it away from Hallownest with Quirrel? Or send it off with one of the nailmasters to be taught?

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice it fell asleep in her arms, curled up and still slightly shivering. She picked it up as Holly did to her when she was young. She didn’t even know anything about this… thing, but the fact that her father must have done something to them and however many more of these things there were. She would keep it safe, no matter what.


	17. A Secret Shrine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ogrim and his three fellow Great Knights gather to enjoy a night out in the Captial. Little does he know, he is not the only bug from the palace who is out and about on this night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, my boyfriend recently broke up with me, my mom pureed her finger, and I've just been all around stressed and fatigued. Hope this chapter kinda makes up for it? I'm trying my best, at the very least.

Ogrim shook off the water that soaked his cloak and fluff, drying himself to the best of his ability. The last few months had been fairly painful, if he had to be honest. He and Isma had been becoming distant due to the slowly increasing stress that protecting the palace had become. More and more often, a horde of infected would arrive at the palace in an attempt to take the King’s life. Every time, the four Great Knights would defend the castle.

The Queen of Hallownest and Dryya spent most of their days in the Queen’s distant gardens. If Ogrim was honest, he felt betrayed that Dryya was no longer helping them. When she came to the palace, she didn’t even talk to them. It was, perhaps, understandable in a way. She was the closest to Xero, as he was her student, and Xero had gone completely missing. They didn’t even know that his post was abandoned for several days, and by the time someone went to check on him, it was likely too late. 

Dryya herself checked the entirety of the Kingdom’s Edge, and she found nothing but a moth, who apparently didn’t know anything about the ant Knight. Xero was likely dead, or worse infected, but Ogrim hoped that his friend was okay. Dryya, though, certainly wasn’t okay. She no longer talked to anyone but the Queen, and refused to spend more than a day in the Palace.

Ah, he got sidetracked again. Today was a day for relaxation! For him to rekindle dying flames with Isma, to reinforce his friendships with his three fellow knights. Even if Dryya and Xero weren’t here, everything would still be as fun as it used to be, right?

No. As they gathered around a table to order something to drink, Ogrim could practically feel the tiredness and exhaustion radiating off of everyone in the group. Hegemol’s jokes and humor had run dry, and he spent most of his days walking the perimeter of the palace. Two of his students, Oro and Mato, had gotten into an argument and both of them had left in a fit of rage. Oro, in specific, was angry about something else, but he refused to tell anyone what had upset him. Before his departure, he had punched two separate holes in a wall, and had spent most of his time crying to himself. Sheo, the third and oldest of the triplets, was still around, but something told Ogrim that he wouldn’t be staying for long. He was sad, so sad, to lose the bugs he considered his children.

Ze’mere spent almost no time at the palace, instead opting to visit her girlfriend in the Queen’s Gardens, where she now resided. A large portion of the mantises, as well as one of the Lords, Kieza, had moved there after Ze’mere’s relationship with Kieza’s daughter was exposed. He had been furious, and had barred the girl from seeing her lover, but the two still met up anyways. It was a recipe for disaster, and Ogrim only hoped someone would come to their senses before it was too late. At least she was here now, talking about her girlfriend, assuring them the two of them were fine and would remain so.

He and Isma had decided to sit across from one another, and as the other two were talking, she wrapped a hand around his claw and gripped it tightly. He looked at her and smiled, to which she smiled back. He was sure his face was currently very red, but that’s alright. He was spending time with his best friends, holding the hand of the love of his life, whose gentle grip told him that everything would be alright, it would not get worse, all the cruelness of the world had already been set upon them, and now they could begin to heal. 

His gaze drifted away from his lover and his friends to Protea, who was not supposed to be outside of the palace, but here she was, wearing a heavy cloak and hood in an attempt to hide her features. The hood did not, in fact, hide any of her features. 

“One moment, I think I see Protea.” He says, getting everyone’s attention, and everyone turns to look at the King’s daughter as she looks around herself, apparently not seeing the group of Knights, despite all of them being, well, eyesores. Ogrim gets up from his seat, Isma giving his claw one last squeeze before he begins approaching the girl.

Protea hurried down the streets, anxiously looking around her and increasing her pace every time she thought someone might be approaching her, and eventually arriving at a small, stone statue of Unn, tucked away into a dead-end alleyway. Removing her hood, she kneeled on the soft moss in front of the statue.

“Unn, Goddess of green?” Protea said, as much of a greeting as it was a question. Ogrim silently stood behind her. “I have come to you today, to pray to you because I need your help.” She explained, clearing her throat.

“I have been to several shrines today, I will admit. I have prayed to every god I know because I’m scared. Recently, I was informed that my sister, Lance, is dying from void poisoning. I’m scared, I love my sister so much and I don’t know what I’d do without her. I don’t know what I’d do without any of my sisters. Edel recently suffered a crack to her mask, and she has been suffering from panic attacks and I want to help her but she told me that I can’t help her because I wouldn’t understand, and I know I don’t understand but I want to and I want to help her!” Protea was crying at this point, tears running down her face and joining the rain in soaking her to her core.

“And now Lance has lost an arm, and I found her just laying in the arm, covered in blood and black sludge, blood covering her mouth, and I don’t know what to do to help her, she’s killing herself before my eyes and I don’t know what to do. And, and, Sigma was almost assassinated recently, our own home isn’t even safe anymore! And everyone around me is depressed and sad, Xero is missing, Dryya doesn’t want to look at me anymore, everyone hates me and I don’t know how I’m supposed to fix this. Amaryllis hates me, I’m sure, she won’t even talk to me anymore when I sneak out to see her. She never shows and I don’t know why. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Please, Unn, please help me…” She slouched forward, pressing her face into her hands and sobbing loudly. As silently as he could, Ogrim approached her and kneeled down beside her. 

“Protea?” He asked, causing her to jump and crawl backward as fast as she could.

“Wha? How’d you find me? I thought you were enjoying time with your friends?” She sobbed, quickly attempting to wipe the tears off of her face, failing thanks to the rain.

“I saw you creeping about and I was worried. Are you okay?” He asked, even though it was obvious that she wasn’t.

“I’m okay, I’m okay but no one else is. Everyone around me is getting hurt and dying and I don’t want to lose anyone. I… I’m sorry.” She said. Ogrim hurriedly shuffled forward, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around his shell the best she could, burrowing her face into his cloak and muffling her sobs.

“It’s okay, It’s okay. I know how stressful things are right now, I know how much things hurt, but it will be okay, I promise. We… your father… Everyone is doing their best right now, to keep you and your sisters safe and to save Hallownest. I promise you, I would not let anything hurt you, not in a thousand years.” He said. She nodded into his chest. “Would you like to come back and eat lunch with us? I’m sure everyone would be glad to speak to you and see that you’re okay.” 

She pulled her head back and looked him in the eyes. “They would? They don’t hate me?” She asked. He shook his head.

“Of course not, they love you more than anything, just as your sisters do. It’s okay, let’s go back.” He said, pulling himself to his feet and taking her hand in his claw. She nodded, wiping away at the tears and rain again, doing her best to smile. The two of them left the alleyway and the statue of Unn. Protea could only hope that the Goddess had heard her prayer. Little did she know, the Goddess had heard every word.


	18. What Lies Beyond the Abyssal Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is on a mission to get behind the door at the bottom of the Ancient Basin. Sigma accompanied her, but momentarily gets distracted by a certain cockroach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for drug addiction in this chapter, so watch out for that. It isn’t mentioned past the short dotted line, so you can skip to there if it makes you uncomfortable

Tonight was the night. Lance had made sure she stayed awake even after Holly had tucked her in and given her a bedtime smooch. No matter how hard it was to not cuddle up to her sibling’s side and get comfortable, she had something she needed to get to the bottom of, and seeing as her and her older sibling’s life was quickly approaching their ends. She carefully pushed Holly’s arm off of her and crawled out of bed, noticing that Edel was gone. 

Edel was likely still studying late into the night with Charlie. The two of them could study for hours upon hours, sometimes even days, asking each other questions and reading tablets full of information, working towards their goals. Edel was a potential wrinkle, she might tattle, or wake someone, and then her plan would be forever ruined. She had to be careful and quiet.

She crept out of the room and down the halls. The first thing she needed to ensure was that Edel and Charlie, if he was in the palace, were asleep. She peaked her head around the corner of their study room, seeing Edel and Charlie in the corner of the room, shoulder to shoulder, Charlie, leaning against Edel and her arm over his shoulder, at least a dozen journals and tubes of acid surrounding them, both of them fast asleep. Perfect, it was go time.

She turned around and almost walked directly into Sigma. She jumped backward, and almost punched her sister across the face with her remaining arm. Thankfully, Sigma caught her fist. “What’re you doing up?” She hissed. 

“I’m doing something, I have to find something out, something you wouldn’t understand,” Lance explains cryptically.

“Is it the giant, locked door at the bottom of the Ancient Basin?” Sigma asked.

“You should just go back to… wait, what? How’d you know that’s what I was going to sneak out to investigate?” Lance asked.

“Because that’s what I was going to investigate, I think something is living down there, and I need to know what it is,” Sigma explained. Lance nodded. This was good. Sigma was much stronger than her, and if something was living down there, she would need Sigma’s superior strength to protect herself. 

“Okay. I have a plan to get the door open, I just need you to carry dad out of bed without waking him.” She explained.

“What? Why would I…. huh?” Sigma asked, completely, absolutely confused. 

“I’ve noticed, when we used to go on walks through the Basin, his chest would begin to glow whenever we went near the door. I think he might be the key to the door, in some way or another, but if he’s locked it, then we can’t wake him up until we’ve found out what’s down there.” Lance explained. 

“Then let’s go kidnap our dad!” Sigma said with a grin, maybe a bit too loud. There was a shuffle in the study room, and a moment later, a dim light echoed into the hallway. “Oh shit,” Sigma muttered.

Lance pushed a hand over Sigma’s mouth and pulled her out of the hallway and into an adjacent room. Charlie exited the room, looking nervously back and forth before beginning to move, quickly and silently down the hall, like he had done this a thousand times before. Sigma squinted at him. She had seen Charlie and Edel when they fell asleep together, they were practically inseparable. Despite already agreeing to help her sister, her curiosity got the better of her and she began following the young cockroach.

“Where are you going?” Lance hissed. She glanced at her sister and then back at the shrinking candlelight.

“I’ll meet you there, I need to get to the bottom of something else,” Sigma answered before struggling out of Lance’s one-handed grip and quietly chasing after the scholar.

Her chase eventually led her to a random hallway, where she saw Charlie slip into a room. She approached the door and put her ear against it, hearing shuffling and someone digging through glass containers. Fuck stealth, she was confronting her sister’s best friend/adopted brother. If he was Edel’s adopted brother, then he was her adopted brother as well. She pushed the door open, catching Charlie in the act of drinking an unlabeled bottle, purple fluid running down his chin.

“What’re you doing?” She asked, and Charlie immediately dropped the glass and skittered backward.

“It’s not what you think, I swear! I… Well, I don’t know how to explain it to you but I swear it’s not what you think!” He says. She can see that his pupils are enlarged from here, and reaching into the box he was digging through, she finds a bottle with a label. Zertrilen, a drug she knew Lurien complained about. Crotaphle, a drug that she had caught a noble taking in an empty room once.

“What the fuck is all this, Charlie?” She asks, finding the bottle he had been drinking from. She licks up a drop of the remaining liquid. It has a sweet taste, like berry juice, but even that small of a sample caused her head to swim and the corners of her vision to blur. “These… These are drugs? Charlie, have you been doing drugs?” Sigma asked, bewildered.

Charlie, huddled in the corner, terrified, his fear likely heightened by the entire bottle of… whatever that drug had been. “I couldn’t help it, the withdrawal hurt so much, I thought it would just be easier if I used some of my money to get some to keep everything from hurting! I’m sorry, I didn’t think anyone would care that I’m still on them!” He cries.

“Of course people care, you numbskull! Edel cares! Quirrel cares! Monomon cares! Hell, I care! This shit… this shit’ll kill you!” She says while thrusting the bottle of Zertrilen at him. He cowers, hugging his legs close to his body. “I’m taking all of these, they’re going away, and I’m going to tell Edel what you’ve been doing.” She threatens.

Fear shoots into Charlie’s eyes. “No! No please don’t tell her, she’s so proud of me and… and she’ll hate me if she knew that I didn’t stop! Please!” Tears are streaming down his face, genuine fear, to the point that he looks like he’s going to have a heart attack. He’s hyperventilating and clutching at his chest.

“Fine. I won’t tell her, you’ll tell her. All of this shit is going somewhere where you’ll never find it, and when your withdrawal hits again you’re going to tell her what’s happening.” He looks like he’s about to say something when she cuts him off again. “What do you think will make her more upset? Finding you dead from overdosing, dead from not getting treatment, or you admit you didn’t stop? If you’re too stupid to answer that, I’ll answer it for you. She cares about you, like a brother, if she found you dead she would never forgive herself.” Sigma hissed.

He ducked his head down, nodding shamefully. “Take care of yourself, go snuggle back up to her. She cares about you a lot, and if you upset her, I’m gonna upset you.” Charlie nodded again. Taking the box of drugs, Sigma left Charlie alone in the room. After a few moments of nothing but the flicker of the candle, Sigma burst back into the room. “I told you to go cuddle up to my sister and be her little brother. Stop moping you mop.”

\----

Lance paced back and forth, picking at her hip joint anxiously. What was taking Sigma so long? Why did she have to run off after Charlie? If Sigma didn’t come back, would she be able to carry her father with one arm? So many questions swimming in her head that she didn’t notice Sigma approaching with a box under her arm.

“I’m here, it's time. Hold this while I go in to pick him up.” Sigma said while handing the box over to Lance. She hesitantly picked it up, looking at the mountain of bottles inside. “Don’t question it. I’ll be back in a second.” She says before silently pulling the door open and creeping into the room. The White Lady, their step mother, was nestled beneath the blankets, her root like hair spread across a pillow, while their father was tucked under her arm, held against her chest like an oversized doll. 

She delicately lifted the White Lady’s arm, careful not to move it quickly. She had no clue how deeply their stepmother slept, and finding out wasn’t an option. She gently placed the huge arm down and reached for her father, who curled up more now that he lacked the warmth of his Root. Good, he was in prime carry condition now. She picked up the coil that was her father and gently and slowly lifted him off of the White Lady’s chest. Thankfully, their father was a heavy sleeper when he slept with his wife. With luck, he wouldn’t awake.

He did not, in fact, wake, so she was able to carefully carry her father out of his bedroom, rejoining her sister in the hallway. “I’ve got him, let’s hurry up and get down there.” She whispered. Lance nodded and the two headed out of the palace and towards the mysterious sealed door. Lance jumped haphazardly, while Sigma was cursed to climb down with her father over her shoulder. How he hadn’t woken up yet was a mystery. 

Sure enough, as they approached the door, his chest glowed brightly, brilliant light flowing from engraving like the brightest lumaflies shining through a magnifying glass. She forcibly uncoiled her father and held his chest up to the door. It glowed, and the symbol grew even brighter, and then in a flash of light, the door was gone. 

As she gently dropped her father, she examined where the door was. Where did it go? Her father had told her that things couldn’t simply “disappear”, so the door had to be somewhere… but where? Lance was much less curious about the workings of the door and more interested in getting to the bottom of the pit before her. She dropped the box off the side, hearing the distant crash of glass against… something else. Sigma barely noticed that her sister was gone until she heard a second distant crunching of what sounded like carapace. Panic filled her as she hurried to the edge and peered down. Lance was gone.

She jumped from platform to platform, dodging crawlers and spikes and corpses to get to the ground level. She finally reached the ground, out of breath, finding Lance laying face down on the… oh gods. There were shells everywhere, white masks just like Holly’s. Is this where Holly and the other vessel had come from? She swallowed down her vomit and hurried to her sister’s side.

“Lance? Lance! Are you okay?” She yelled, shaking her sister. Lance jolted, jumping out of Sigma’s worried grasp and crawling away.

“Go back home. Get out of here, this place is dangerous.” Lance hisses as she gathers broken shells with her remaining arm, pulling them close to her side.

“What the hell are you doing? What the hell is wrong with you Lance! These are corpses, put them down!” Sigma yells, attempting to wrestle the cracked carapaces out of her grasp. Lance growls and attempts to slash at Sigma, her claws dragging a deep line across her sister's chest.

Sigma collapsed backward, scurrying away and leaving Lance to gather more shells. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Sigma asks, tears running down her face as she pressed her hand against her open wound. Lance looked almost as upset as her, and she let go of all of the shells and collapsed into her hand. 

“I don’t know, I don’t know what’s going on, I feel like I need to be here, you need to leave. I need to be alone.” Lance cries in her scratchy, void-tainted voice. Suddenly, there is a bright light as someone lands behind them.

“Sigma? Lance? What’re you doing here? How did you get here?” Their father asks. He himself sounds on the verge of tears, and his light is glowing so dimly that it looks like it might go out. 

“You.” Lance hissed, leaping to her feet. “What did you do?” The King of Hallownest, perhaps just realizing what he is standing on, almost passes out. He falls to his knees, devastation painting his face.

“What? No, no no no no! No! They, the statistics said that… no…” Tears are streaming down his face now as he fully wakes up. He picks up one of the broken shells and Sigma can see his heart shatter. Maybe… maybe he truly didn’t know what was down here? She hoped he didn’t, she wanted to at least believe he was a good person.

“Shut the fuck up, you lying piece of shit! Look around you! Look what you’ve done!” Lance practically screams, her voice raising beyond a whisper for the first time in her life. Their father does look around them. He looks like he can’t breathe, as he digs his fingers into his chest so hard that blood begins to leak from them. 

“Lance, calm down. Give him a chance to explain.” Sigma says, interrupting the deafening silence that followed Lance’s screams. 

“Why should I care to listen to him? Look around you! He’s a murderer!” The Wyrm flinches at that, curling in on himself even tighter.

“I didn’t know any of them survived.” He sobbed. “There was only supposed to be one, I only waited for one… I don’t… I didn’t… the statistics said that it was a one in ten thousand chance for… gods, how many were born? How many are stillborn and how many survived? Oh, gods… oh gods what have I done?” He picks up another shell, one that looks so similar to Holly’s, and rubs the space between its horns. There’s no response, nothing, because it's nothing more than a corpse now.

Sigma approaches her father and kneels in front of him. “Gods… I… this is all my fault but… but I didn’t know I didn’t know any of them would survive past the egg. I didn’t think they would form this much, I… the void poisoning should have killed them, why didn’t it put them out of their misery before they could feel pain? Why didn’t it work like it was supposed to?” He whines.

“I can’t say it’s not your fault, but… I guess there’s something in the fact that you didn’t know.” Sigma says.

Lance hisses. “He’s lying, like he’s always done. He’s just trying to get your pity, if he really cares then he wouldn’t be sending the last of his children to die in an egg.”

“I… there isn’t another way… so many people are dying and this was the only way that I could find forward. This is the only path with a future without the Radiant light.” He explains through broken sobs.

Lance has no response to that, she just grimaces and paces back and forth, the masks crunching beneath her feet.

“You… you can still fix this.” Sigma says after a long moment of silence. Both Lance and her father look at her. “Not all of them died, some got out, some might still be down here. You just need to find them.”

“There aren’t any left, they wouldn’t have survived.” He says, pathetically.

“You’re wrong. I found one in the Basin.” She explains, catching Lance’s interest now.

“What? Where are they?” He asks, his wings unfurling from his back.

“Sit down. They’re safe, but I don’t know if I can trust you yet.” She said. He visibly deflated at that, collapsing back onto the pile of shells. 

“You can’t kill Holly. They aren’t even pure, your plan is going to fail and more people are going to die.” Lance hisses. 

“Yeah, that, but also you need to help Lance. She isn’t doing good, she’s dying at an alarming rate, her arm occasionally leaks black ooze, you need to get all that gunk out of her, and then you can spend time with your two new children.” She commands. The King nods solemnly as he picks up another shell.

“Yes, if Lance will agree to it, I can work to get the void out of her.” He says. Lance is about to say something but decides against it. “As for Holly, I know. I can’t do it anymore, I don’t even have the guts to go through the Dreamer plan. I will… I will do my best to give them a new childhood, and I will find every last living vessel even if it kills me. They deserve better than this.” He says. “The Dreamer plan was supposed to keep all of them alive, they should be able to wake up once the Radiance is gone, and… and the seal should keep Holly alive, but I understand, the plan cannot be completed.”

Lance still doesn’t look happy, even though she’s been given even more time to spend with her sibling, but Sigma is at least proud that her father is trying to be better. She looks up at the light at the peak of the Abyss.

It’s very high up, it’s almost ridiculous how tall this place is. Sigma scratches her chin and wonders aloud, “How’re we supposed to get out of here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter might upset people, so,,, enjoy this one while you can?


End file.
